r 


MEXICO 


AND    HER 


MILITARY  CHIEFTAINS. 


DON    ANTONIO    LOPEZ   DE   SANTA    ANNA. 


MEXICO 


MILITARY  CHIEFTAINS, 


FROM  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  HIDALGO  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


COMPRISING  SKETCHES  OF  THE  LIVES 


HIDALGO,  MORELOS,  ITURBIDE,  SANTA  ANNA,  GOMEZ  FARIAS, 

BUSTAMENTE,  PAREDES,  ALMONTE,  ARISTA,  ALAMAN, 

AMPUDIA,  HERRERA,  AND  DE  LA  VEGA. 


BY  FAY.  ROBINSON. 


SUustvateli  bs  STbelbe  ^ottratts  aiiti  1Siigtabfn0s. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED  BY  E.  H.  BUTLER  &  CO. 

1847. 


Entered  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847,  by 

E.  H.  BUTLER  &  Co., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  in  and  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


B.    B,   MEARS,   STEHEOTYPEH. 


SMITH   AND    PETERS,    PRINTERS. 


-^ 


PREFACE 


While  an  invalid  several  years  ago,  and  resident  of  more 
than  one  of  the  ports  of  the  "American  Mediterranean,"  I 
whiled  away  many  weary  hours  in  collecting  materials  for  a 
far  more  elaborate  work  than  this,  on  the  history  and  the 
revolutions,  not  only  of  Mexico,  but  of  the  states  of  the 
southern  continent.  With  this  view  I  searched  several  con- 
ventual libraries,  and  found  curious  documents,  which  amply 
recompensed  me  for  the  time  and  labor  thus  expended. 

Circumstances  which  it  is  now  unnecessary  to  refer  to  more 
particularly,  had  made  me  almost  forget,  and  for  a  time 
entirely  neglect  this  scheme  ]  when  it  was  suggested  to  me, 
that  for  want  of  some  such  book  as  this,  the  peculiar  policy  of 
Mexico  and  its  men  was  almost  unintelligible.  Such  was  the 
occasion  of  this  work,  in  which  I  have  sought  to  present  a  fair 
view  of  the  past  condition  of  the  self-named  republic,  and  to 
trace  the  origin  of  that  series  of  events  which  have  made  it 
the  victim  of  successive  revolutions,  each  of  which  has  left 
the  country  in  a  worse  condition  than  when  the  tenor  of 
circumstances  was  interrupted  by  the  preceding  convulsion. 

I  once  knew  a  person  who  had  passed  the  greater  part  of 
a  long  life  in  the  neighborhood  of  Niagara,  without  having  seen 
it,  and  was  ultimately  induced  to  visit  the  great  cataract, 
because  a  foot-race  took  place  in  its  immediate  vicinity. 
Similar  in  many  respects  seems  the  neglect  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States  of  the  history  of  our  neighbors,  who  have  pre- 
sented to  the  world  as  many  pure  self-sacrificing  men  as  any 
other  nation,  at  the  same  time  that  they  have  perhaps 
exhibited  in  a  short  period  more  despicable  characters  than 
have  disgraced  the  annals  of  any  other  people.     Recent  events 


VI  PREFACE. 

have,  however,  rendered  all  that  relates  to  Mexico  important, 
and  absolve  me  from  any  apology  of  this  kind. 

I  might  make  many  acknowledgments  of  the  sources 
whence  I  have  drawn  information  of  things,  which  occurred 
too  long  ago  for  me  to  have  been  a  contemporary,  or  at  least 
to  have  remembered  them.  Among  the  facts  I  have  thus 
been  enabled  to  present  to  the  reader,  are  included  no  small 
portion  of  the  life  of  General  Guadalupe  Victoria,  from  Ward's 
'•  Mexico,"  and  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  castle  of  San  Juan 
de  Ulua,  from  the  "Life  in  Mexico"  of  Madame  Calderon  de 
la  Barca. 

I  have  carefully  read  all  the  books  of  travels  I  could  obtain, 
and  also  many  minor  sketches,  for  the  most  part  anon>-mous ; 
a  sheaf  of  letters  in  French  and  German,  I  have  also  been 
kindly  permitted  to  examine,  and  from  them  have  drawn 
many  hints. 

The  additional  chapter  will  be  found  principally  a  collation 
of  official  documents,  which  it  was  beUeved  would  give  a 
better  idea  of  the  present  war  than  any  sketch  which  could 
be  crowded  into  so  small  a  space  as  I  was  restricted  to,  when 
the  course  of  my  story  had  brought  me  to  the  days  in  which 
they  occurred. 

Many  of  the  opinions  inculcated  in  this  book,  especially  in 
relation  to  the  pecuhar  ecclesiastical  position  of  Mexico,  may 
seem  paradoxical  5  and  it  may  not,  therefore,  be  improper  to 
state  distinctly  and  precisely  the  idea  sought  to  be  conveyed. 
I  have  wished  to  show  that  it  would  not  be  less  reasonable 
for  the  Roman  Catholic  to  attribute  to  the  Reformed  churches 
the  dogmatism  and  the  crudities  of  many  of  the  current  isms 
of  the  day,  which  fritter  away  most  of  the  essentials  of  faith, 
than  is  a  disposition  sometimes  evinced  to  hold  the  Roman 
Cathohc  church  responsible  for  the  countless  Indian  super- 
stitions engrafted  in  Mexico  on  its  traditions. 

There  are  many  other  points  to  which  I  would  be  pleased 
to  refer,  but  as  it  is  impossible  to  touch  on  all,  I  will  end 
at  once,  dedicating  to  my*  countrymen  these  records  of  their 
enemies.  F.  R. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. — Mexico  under  the  Viceroys. 

Extent  of  the  viceroyalty  of  Mexico — Form  of  govern- 
ment— Taxes — The  clergy — Education — Classes  of  the 
people — Topography — Political  divisions       .         .     Page  13 


CHAPTER  n.— The  Revolution. 

Abdication  of  the  Bourbons  in  Spain — Effects  in  Spain — 
Effects  in  Mexico — Supreme  central  junta  resigns — 
Change  in  the  Spanish  constitution — Insurrections  in 
America — Vanegas  appointed  viceroy — Hidalgo     .         .     24 


CHAPTER  HI. — The  Revolution  subsequent  to  the  death 
OF  Hidalgo, 

Guerilla  warfare — National  junta — Manifesto  of  the  revo- 
lutionists— Morelos — Evacuation  of  Cuautla — Expedition 
against  Oaxaca — Valladolid — Morelos  defeated — Expe- 
dition to  Tehuacan — Morelos  taken  prisoner — Executed    44 

CHAPTER  IV. — Revolution — From  the  death  of  Morelos, 
December  22d,  1816.  to  1820. 

Dissolution  of  the  Mexican  congress — New  Spanish  con- 
stitution—  Battles  in  Texas  —  Teran— Rayon — Nicolas 
Bravo — Guadalupe  Victoria — Mina — Gloomy  aspect  of 
the  revolutionary  cause 67 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. — Don  Augustino  Iturbidk. 

Rise  of  Iturbide — His  services  in  the  Spanish  cause — Plan 
of  Iguala — O'Donoju — Treaty  of  Cordova — Iturbide  pro- 
claimed emperor — Abdicates — His  '-Statement" — Re- 
turns to  Mexico — Arrested  and  executed — Republican 
constitution  framed 76 

CHAPTER  VI.— Mexican  Republic. 

Recognition  by  the  United  States  of  the  independence  of 
the  revolted  colonies  of  Spain — Congress  of  Panama — 
Mr.  Poinsett  plenipotentiary  to  Mexico  —  Treaty  of 
alliance  and  commerce — Boundary  question — Victoria 
president — Influence  of  Masonry  on  poUtics — Triumph 
of  the  Yorkino  party 141 

CHAPTER  VII.— Santa  Anna. 

Santa  Aima — Mango  de  Clavo — Pronounces  against  Itur- 
bide —  President — Zacatecas — Texan  War — Revolution 

153 


CHAPTER  VIII. — Valentino  Gomez  Farias  and  Anastasio 

BUSTAMENTE. 

Farias  an  opponent  of  Iturbide — Elected  vice-president — 
Attempts  to  obtain  liberal  institutions — Congress  sus- 
pends its  sessions — Farias  banished — Returns  to  Mexico 
— Pronounces  against  Bustamente's  government  —  His 
attempt  defeated — Early  life  of  Bustamente — Election 
to  the  presidency — Banished — Returns  to  Mexico — His 
second  election  to  the  presidency — Resigns   .         .         .218 


CHAPTER  IX. — Mariano  Paredes  y  Arrillaga  and  Don 
Juan  Nepomuceno  Almonte. 

Election  of  Herrera — Paredes  pronounces  against  him — 
Herrera  deposed — Paredes  elected  president — Deposed 


CONTENTS.  IX 

—Imprisoned — Escapes  to  Europe — Almonle — Battle  of 
San  Jacinto — Almonte  sent  minister  to  England  and 
France — His  character 243 


CHAPTER  X. — Don  Mariano  Arista  and  other  General 
Officers. 

Arista — Jarochos — Campaign  in  the  department  of  Vera 
Cruz  —  Duran's  insurrection  —  Insurrection  quelled  — 
Arista  ordered  to  the  Rio  Grande — Ampudia — Battle  of 
Mier — Naval  action — La  Vega 252 


CHAPTER  XI. — Don  Lucas  Alaman  and  Don  Joaquin 
H err era. 

Alaman — His  personal  appearance — Character — Visits  Eu- 
.  rope — Appointed  minister  of  foreign  affairs — Reforms  in 
the  government  of  Mexico — Execution  of  Guerrero — 
Banco  de  avio — Revolution — Alaman  again  elevated  to 
office  —  Bustamente  deposed  —  Alaman  establishes  a 
cotton  manufactory — His  failure  —  Made  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  in  1842 — Herrera — His  character     .         .  266 


CHAPTER  XH. 
The  City  and  Valley  of  Mexico— The  Church  .        .        .284 

ADDITIONAL  CHAPTER. 

Causes  of  the  present  war — Mexican  spoliations — Annex- 
ation of  Texas  to  the  United  Slates — Palo  Alto — Resaca 
de  la  Palma — Monterey — Buena  Vista — Vera  Cruz— 
Cerro  Gordo 304 


NOTE. 

As  the  words  p-onunciar,  pronunciamento,  and  pronunciados 
are  frequently  used  in  the  following  pages,  it  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  define  precisely  their  meanings.  When  any  body  ol 
men,  civil  or  mihtary,  declare  their  opposition  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  their  intention  to  support  any  particular  chief  or 
principle,  they  are  said  pronunciar,  to  pronounce;  they  are 
called  proiiunciadosy  persons  who  have  pronounced;  and  their 
act  is  styled  a  pronunciamento  or  pronunciation. 

The  two  or  three  days'  talk  or  powwowing  which  precedes 
the  pronunciamento,  is  called  el  grito,  or  cry ;  and  when  the 
whole  is  complete,  the  result  announced  to  the  world  is  said  to 
be  a  plan. 

Such  things  are  common  in  Mexico,  where  an  obscure  priest, 
the  alcalde  of  an  Indian  puehla,  and  a  non-commissioned  officer 
of  civicos  or  national  guard,  have  more  than  once  proclaimed  a 
system  or  plan  for  the  regeneration  of  the  world. 


Ebkatum.— P.  65,  9th  line  from  foot,  for  I  have  read  ther. 


MEXICO 


AND 


HER  MILITARY  CHIEFTAINS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MEXICO  UNDER  THE  VICEROYS. 

Extent  of  the  viceroyalty  of  Mexico — Form  of  goverment — 
Taxes — The  clergy — Education — Classes  of  the  people — 
Topography — Political  divisions. 

By  far  the  most  beautiful  portion  of  all  the  possessions 
of  Spain  in  America,  which  extended  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Sabine,  with  but  few  interruptions,  except  the 
Brazils,  to  the  fortieth  degree  of  south  latitude  on  the 
Atlantic^  and  on  the  Pacific  from  the  forty-second  degree 
north  to  the  fortieth  south,  was  the  viceroyalty  of  Mex- 
ico. It  occupied  a  portion  of  the  globe,  towards  which 
nature  has  been  peculiarly  beneficent,  where  every 
mountain  was  the  seat  of  mines,  and  where  in  contra- 
diction of  the  rule  which  condemns  to  sterility  re- 
gions which  abound  in  mineral  wealth,  every  fruit  of 
every  clime  grew  in  proximity.  It  was  strewn  with  vast 
and  venerable  ruins,  which  even  now  astonish  the  trav- 
eller and  reveal  to  him  the  monumental  history  of  a  by- 
gone people,  the  great  resources  and  peculiar  civiliza- 
tion of  whom  constituted  but  a  portion  of  its  power. 
The  vice-kingdom  of  Mexico  was  of  far  greater  extent 


14  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIETAINS. 

than  the  old  Aztec  Empire,  and  Galvez  and  Iturrigaray 
ruled  over  nations  and  countries  of  the  existence  of  which 
Montezuma  and  his  ancestors  were  ignorant.  It  em- 
braced people  of  many  languages  and  habits,  originally 
with  different  laws  and  peculiar  creeds,  all  of  which  had 
been  annihilated  by  a  long  series  of  oppression  and 
reduced  to  one  level,  that  of  slavery  and  degradation. 
How  this  vast  region  passed  under  the  dominion  of 
Spain,  is  an  important  point  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
to  the  elucidation  of  which  some  of  the  most  skilful  pens 
and  brightest  intellects  of  the  age  have  been  employed  ; 
but  interesting  as  it  is,  scarcely  comports  with  the  plan 
marked  out  for  this  sketch — though  from  that  conquest 
resulted  the  fearful  peculiarities  of  the  ante-revolutionary 
rule,  and  indirectly  the  long  series  of  atrocities  which 
finally  subsided  into  the  present  unsettled  mw-govem- 
ment,  which  so  far  has  borne  but  the  ashes  and  dust  of 
turmoil  and  strife,  instead  of  the  wholesome  fhiit  of 
order  and  free  institutions.  As  it  is,  however,  it  seems 
indispensable  to  refer  to  the  condition  of  Mexico  under 
the  Spanish  rule,  and  to  the  events  of  its  first  revolution, 
before  we  touch  upon  the  men  who  have  influenced  its 
subsequent  destinies. 

It  is  the  greatest  curse  of  misgovemment  that  it 
destroys  not  only  the  present  happiness  of  a  people,  but 
its  future  capacities ;  and  it  is  true  that  rarely  has  any 
people,  which  has  been  long  oppressed,  been  able  to 
establish  a  good  government,  until  it  had  learned  by  a 
series  of  calamities,  that  freedom  is  not  an  absence  of 
restraint,  but  a  rule,  the  correct  administration  of  which 
requires  as  many  sacrifices,  or  as  passive  obedience,  as  the 
purest  monarchy.  This  is  obvious,  when  we  remember 
that  the  difference  between  the  freest  and  most  absolute 
governments  is  but  that  in  the  first,  the  wishes  of  the  in- 


MEXICO    UNDER    THE   VICEROYS.  15 

dividual  must  be  sacrificed  to  the  interests  of  a  com- 
munity, in  the  second,  the  interests  of  a  community  to 
the  wishes  of  an  individual.  The  one  is  not  more  ex- 
acting than  the  other,  though  few  are  able  to  think  this 
is  the  case,  and  hence  originates  not  a  few  of  the  errors 
so  fatal  to  new  governments,  in  the  establishment  of 
which  it  has  been  necessary  to  beware  of  the  example  of 
the  past  not  to  take  advantage  of  accumulations  of  its  ex- 
perience. The  history  of  all  the  revolutions  which  have 
yet  occurred  also  teach,  that  those  nations  which  have 
been  most  oppressed  have  had  most  difficulty  in  per- 
ceiving what  course  true  wisdom  prescribed  to  them  ;  a 
more  striking  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  can  no  where 
be  found  than  in  the  annals  of  the  Mexican  Republic. 

Mexico,  Peru,  Buenos  Ayres,  Chili,  Cuba,  and  the 
other  Spanish  possessions  in  America  were  never  known 
as  colonies,  in  the  sense  attached  to  that  term  by  Eng- 
land and  France.  They  were  not  subject  to  the  law  of 
Spain,  but  were  governed  by  codes  prepared  to  suit 
what  were  considered  their  respective  exigencies,  and 
reference  was  made  to  the  Roman  law  only  in  cases 
for  which  no  provision  was  made  in  the  several  systems 
ordained  for  them.  Each  and  all  were  in  fact  separate 
kingdoms,  and  were  called  such,  with  the  exception  of 
Cuba,  and  united  formed  that  empire  which  enabled  the 
successors  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to  call  themselves 
Kings  of  Spain  and  the  Indies.  At  the  head  of  each  of 
these  realms,  except  Chili  and  Cuba,  which  were 
governed  by  Captains- General,  and  Quito,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  always  a  Presidente,  was  a  Viceroy,  rep- 
resentative of  royal  authority,  and,  as  far  as  the  people 
were  concerned,  entirely  irresponsible.  They  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  real  audienda  de  las  Indias,  representing 
the  imperial  power,  residing  in  Spain,  and  in  many 


16  MEXICO    AND    HtR    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

respects  the  most  peculiar  body  which  ever  existed.  It 
was  established  in  1511,  consequently  very  soon  after 
the  discovery  of  the  American  continent,  and  under  the 
Rais  Faineants  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  gradually 
jasurped  exclusive  control  of  the  Indies.  As  a  legisla- 
ture, it  issued  all  laws  and  regulations  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Indies;  in  the  exercise  of  its  executive 
faculties,  it  made  or  confirmed  all  appointments,  civil, 
military,  and  even  ecclesiastical,  and  ordered  or  in- 
structed the  higher  officers,  with  regard  to  the  perform- 
ance of  their  duties ;  lastly,  it  was  a  supreme  court  of 
judicature,  to  which  causes  involving  important  ques- 
tions might  be  submitted  for  their  final  determination. 
It  thus  possessed  all  the  powers  of  the  government  over 
these  extensive  realms.  The  assent  of  the  monarch  was, 
indeed,  necessary  to  give  authority  to  its  proceedings, 
yet  that  assent  ^vas  rarely,  if  ever,  withheld  ;  and  as  va- 
cancies in  its  ow'n  body  were  always  filled  agreeably  to 
its  own  recommendation,  the  whole  period  of  its  exist- 
ence might  be  viewed  as  the  reign  of  one  absolute  sove- 
reign, ever  sagacious,  and  ever  adding  to  his  stores  of 
experience.  The  viceroy  was  but  their  creature,  respon- 
sible only  to  them,  and  by  a  most  tyrannical  provision 
could  only  be  proceeded  against  within  a  very  short 
time  after  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  he 
was  appointed — five  years.  The  viceroys  were  almost 
always  nobles  and  courtiers,  who  came  to  Mexico  to 
restore  dilapidated  fortunes,  and  generally  returned 
effete  with  wealth  wrung  from  the  American  subjects  of 
their  master.  It  sometimes  happened  they  were  willing 
to  remain  for  longer  terms.  As  these  officers  could 
scarcely  be  presumed  familiar  with  the  administration 
of  justice,  they  were  provided  with  Fiscales  or  adminis- 
trators of  various  kinds,  whom  they  were  obliged  to  con- 


MEXICO    UNDER    THE    VICEROYS.  17 

suit  before  taking  any  important  step  ;  each  might  act 
contrary  to  the  opinion  of  his  Fiscal,  but  the  latter  had 
the  right  to  enter  his  protest,  which  might  afterwards  be 
submitted  to  the  Supreme  Council.  Such  a  system  car- 
ried out  correctly  would  be  bad  enough,  but  in  its  ap- 
pointments the  real  audiencia  seems  to  have  forgotten 
that  they  owed  any  obligation  to  the  people  of  Mexico, 
thinking  them  only  beasts  of  burden  bound  to  eternal 
vassalage,  not  only  to  the  Spanish  monarch,  but  to  every 
Spaniard.  Long,  long  after  the  establishment  of  this 
system,  scarcely  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  it  was 
gravely  asserted  in  a  Spanish  legislative  assemblage, 
that  '<  as  long  as  one  man  lived  in  Spain,  he  had  a  right 
to  the  obedience  of  every  American,"  a  paradox  more 
ridiculous  than  any  of  the  grave  sayings  of  Sir  Robert 
Filmer.  In  the  long  list  of  viceroys  appointed  to  all 
the  Indies  (one  hundred  and  sixty  in  America),  but  four 
were  born  on  this  side  the  Atlantic,  and  the  proportion 
of  other  officers  was  quite  as  small.  In  1785  the  minis- 
ter Galvez  referred  to  the  fact  that  a  few  Mexicans  held 
office  in  their  ow^n  country  as  an  abuse.  The  conduct 
of  the  audiencia  and  the  officers  they  sent  to  America 
fully  authorized  the  maxim  which  seems  to  have  actu- 
ated the  one  in  their  forgetfulness  of  all  humanity,  and 
the  other  in  the  hopeless  submission  to  the  rule,  that  God 
IS  IN  Heaven  and  the  King  in  Spain  :  from  one  they  in- 
ferred there  was  no  limit  to  their  power,  from  the  other 
no  remedy  for  their  wrongs.  When  we  look  at  this 
state  of  things,  can  we  be  astonished  at  the  condition  of 
Mexico  at  the  present  time?  When  oppression  does 
not  force  from  its  victims  the  fierce  spirit  of  resistance, 
it  evidently  degrades  those  on  whom  it  weighs ;  when 
violence  does  not  struggle  with  injustice,  man  is  driven 
to  cunning  and  subterfuge,  and  habits  of  fraud  take  pos- 


18  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

session  of  the  whole  mind,  and  those  who  have  suffered 
from  the  tyranny  of  others  are  ever  most  prone  to  ex- 
hibit their  own  haughtiness  and  arrogance.  Thus  it  is, 
that  after  expelling  the  Spanish  oppressors,  so  few  Mexi- 
cans are  found  worthy  of  the  power  they  have  won. 

As  a  check  on  the  power  of  the  viceroy,  to  secure 
the  royal  privileges,  another  officer  was  appointed  an 
Intendente,  the  duty  of  whom  it  was  to  take  care  of  the 
collection  and  application  of  the  taxes,  of  the  revenue 
of  the  mines,  and  the  imposts,  which  w^ere  many  and 
vexatious.  Subordinate  to  these  in  each  province  w^as 
an  officer,  usually  a  military  commander,  called  Inten- 
dente de  Provinda,  the  powers  of  whom  were  those  of  a 
governor,  and  who  was  responsible  to  the  viceroy. 
The  provinces  w'ere  divided  into  districts,  each  of  which 
was  superintended  by  a  board  called  El  Cabildo  or 
Ayuntamiento ,  the  power  of  appointing  which,  either 
rested  with,  or  was  controlled  by  the  higher  authorities. 

The  most  serious  check  upon  the  absoluteness  or  the 
ambition  of  all  the  executive  officers,  were  the  AudieTv- 
das  or  high  courts  of  justice,  of  which  one  or  two 
were  established  in  every  kingdom.  They  consisted 
each  of  a  small  number,  generally  between  three  and 
eight,  of  Oidores  or  judges,  aided  by  Fiscales^  chancel- 
lors, notaries,  Alguaziles  or  sheriffs,  and  other  officers 
or  agents.  On  ordinary  occasions  they  were  presided 
over  by  one  of  their  own  number,  styled  a  Regent ;  the 
viceroy  was,  however,  ex-offido^  the  President  of  the 
Audiencia  established  in  his  capital. 

The  taxes  we  have  said  were  vexatious,  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  mystery  and  surprise,  how  any  people  sub- 
mitted so  long  to  such  extortion.  The  chief  of  these, 
independent  of  the  odious  capitation  tax  or  tribute, 
levied  on  the  Indians,  whether  rich  or  poor,  were  the 


MEXICO    UNDER   THE   VICEROYS.  19 

almojarifazgOj  or  import  duty  ;  the  alcabala,  on  all  sales 
of  estates ;  the  millione,  on  the  articles  of  daily  use  ;  and 
monopolies  of  all  necessaries,  whether  of  life  or  of 
industry,  as  salt,  tobacco,  quicksilver  used  in  mines, 
&c.  That  under  such  a  system,  so  crushing  to  energy 
and  industry,  the  people  became  idle  and  nerveless, 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at ;  the  wonder  is,  that  they  existed 
at  all.  The  worst  features  of  the  two  w^orst  governments 
in  the  world,  the  Gothic  rule,  and  that  of  the  Spanish 
Moors,  had  been  combined  to  form  the  government  of 
the  mother-country,  and  its  worst  features  had  been  care- 
fully preserved  to  oppress  the  native  population  of 
Mexico,  in  the  code  sent  out  to  them  by  the  supreme 
council  of  the  Indies.  Why  they  did  not  resist  centuries 
before,  we  cannot  imagine,  since  the  military  force  con- 
sisting of  regulars,  were  nearly  all  Spaniards,  and  of 
native  militia,  neither  class,  however,  at  any  time  very 
numerous ;  the  government  appearing  to  have  but  little 
dread  of  foreign  attacks,  and  to  place  full  confidence  in 
the  organization  of  its  civil  powers,  for  preventing 
internal  disturbances. 

The  ecclesiastical  establishment  was  an  important 
branch  of  the  government  of  America,  where  it  was 
maintained  in  great  splendor  and  dignity.  The  clergy 
presented  the  same  characteristics  there,  as  in  other 
countries  where  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  prevailed 
exclusively ;  the  inferior  members  being  generally  honest, 
kind,  and  simple-minded  persons,  loving  and  loved  by 
their  parishioners,  while  the  high  dignitaries  w^re,  for 
the  most  part,  arrogant,  intriguing,  and  tyrannical.  The 
Inquisition  exercised  its  detestable  sway,  unchecked,  in 
every  part  of  the  dominions ;  occasionally  exhibiting  to 
the  people  of  the  great  cities,  the  edifying  spectacle  of 
an  auto  da  fe^  in  which  human  victims  were  sacrificed, 


20  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

to  confirm  the  faith  of  the  beholders  in  the  power  of  the 
archbishop  and  the  viceroy. 

Before  the  revolution,  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  was 
studiously  prevented.  The  charge  of  keeping  them  in 
ignorance  was  committed  to  the  priests,  who,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Jesuits,  executed  it  with  fidelity ;  the 
few  schools  and  colleges  were  directed  solely  by  eccle- 
.?iastics,  who  excluded  Irom  the  course  of  instruction 
♦ver}'  branch  of  study,  and  from  the  public  and  private 
ibraries  every  book  calculated  to  strengthen  the  mental 
iHCulties,  or  to  elevate  the  feelings.  In  the  year  1806, 
there  was  but  one  printing-press  at  Mexico,  from  which 
a  newspaperwas  published,  under  the  immediate  direction 
of  the  government ;  and  as  the  Spanish  newspapers,  the 
only  ones  allowed  to  be  imported,  were  devoted  almost 
wholly  to  the  movements  of  the  court  or  the  church,  the 
inhabitants  remained  in  absolute  ignorance  of  all  that 
transpired  elsewhere.  A  few  poems  and  plays,  none  of 
any  value,  and  some  works  on  natural  history,  or  specu- 
lations, generally  wild  and  baseless,  on  the  antiquities  of 
those  countries,  form  nearly  the  whole  of  their  original 
literature. 

The  incomplete  outline  here  given  of  the  system  by 
which  Mexico  was  governed,  at  the  time  when  that 
system  was  the  most  liberal,  and  perhaps,  in  general,  the 
most  liberally  administered,  may  serve  to  afford  some 
idea  of  the  evils  to  which  it  was  subjected  before  its 
separation  from  Spain — evils  by  no  means  productive  of 
proportional  advantage  to  the  oppressors.  A  more 
minute  review  of  the  history-  of  Spanish  supremacy 
in  America,  would  serve  to  show  that,  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  its  existence,  the  wishes  and  welfare 
of  the  inhabitants  were  sacrificed  to  the  interests,  real  or 
supposed,  of  the  monarch  or  of  his  European  subjects. 


MEXICO    UNDER    THE    VICEROYS.  21 

To  secure  these  interests  permanently  Avas  tht^  great 
object  of  the  government,  and,  unfortunately  for  Amer- 
ica, they  were  considered  as  being  confined  within  very 
narrow^  limits ;  in  fact,  it  had  long  been  established  as  a 
principle,  that  to  supply  Spain  with  the  greatest  quantity 
of  the  precious  metals,  and  to  gratify  her  nobility  and 
influential  persons  with  lucrative  situations  for  themselves 
or  their  dependants,  were  the  only  purposes  for  which 
these  countries  could  be  rendered  available  without 
endangering  the  perpetuity  of  the  dominion  over  them. 
The  people  were  divided  into  seven  great  classes ;  1st, 
The  old  Spaniards,  known  as  Guachupines  in  the  history 
of  the  civil  wars ;  2d,  the  Creoles,  or  whites  of  pure 
European  race  but  born  in  America  ;  3d,  the  Indigenes, 
or  Indians ;  4th,  the  Mestizos,  of  mixed  breeds  of  whites 
and  Indians,  gradually  merging  into  Creoles  as  the 
Indian  parentage  became  more  and  more  remote ;  5th, 
the  Mulattoes,  or  descendants  of  whites  and  negroes, 
and  7th,  the  African  Negroes  ;  of  these  classes,  the  last 
named  was  very  small,  and  the  others  were  inter- 
mingled, so  as  to  produce  crosses,  to  be  defined  by 
no  possible  degree  of  anthropological  science.  The 
white  population  was  chiefly  collected  in  the  table  land, 
near  the  centre  of  which  the  Indian  race  also  concen- 
trated (near  Puebla,  Oaxaca,  Mexico,  Guanajuato,  and 
Valladolid) ;  w^hile  the  northern  frontier  w^as  inhabited 
almost  entirely  by  whites,  the  Indian  population  having 
retired  before  them.  In  Durango,  New  Mexico,  and  the 
interior  provinces,  the  true  Indian  breed  was  almost 
unknown.  In  Sonora  it  again  appears.  The  coasts 
both  of  the  Gulf  and  the  Pacific,  to  the  south,  were  inhab- 
ited by  a  race,  in  which  there  was  a  great  mixture  of  Afri- 
can blood,  from  the  fact,  that  to  these  imhealthy  pro- 
vinces, the  few  slaves  imported  into  Mexico  were  sent. 


)lZ  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

There  they  have  multipled  with  the  fecundity  peculiar 
to  the  descendants  of  African  parentage,  and  now  form 
a  mixed  breed,  peculiar  to  the  tierra  caliente^  and  unlike 
any  other  in  the  world.  The  mestizos  are  found  every 
where,  from  the  fact  that  but  few  Spanish  women  emi- 
grated early  to  America,  and  the  great  mass  of  the  popula- 
tion is  of  tliis  class ;  and  now  too  that  a  connexion  with 
tiie  aboriginal  race  confers  no  disadvantage,  few  pretend 
to  deny  it.  The  pure  Indians  in  1803  exceeded  two 
millions  and  and  a  half,  and  next  to  them  are  the  mes- 
tizos. At  the  time  of  the  revolution  the  pure  whites 
w^ere  estimated  at  one  million  two  hundred  thousand,  of 
whom  eighty  thousand  only  were  Europeans.  These 
distinctions  were,  however,  soon  annihilated,  and  at  an 
early  day  in  the  revolution  the  only  distinction  known 
was  of  Americans  and  Europeans. 

The  events  of  the  present  war  have  so  universally- 
directed  attention  to  Mexico,  that  its  geography  and 
topography  are  well  known,  and  will  excuse  any  more 
minute  allusion  to  it  than  the  following.  The  Cordillera 
of  the  Andes,  after  passing  along  the  whole  western  coast 
of  South  America  and  through  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
immediately  on  entering  the  northern  continent  is  divi- 
ded into  two  bi-anches,  which  leave  between  them  an 
immense  plateau^  the  central  point  of  which  is  SQ\en 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  This  elevation 
towards  the  eastern  coast  gradually  sudsides  to  a  level 
with  the  ocean,  but  on  the  west  maintains  itself  in  its 
stern  rigidity  till  it  becomes  lost  in  the  ices  of  the  north. 
This  table  land  presents  some  rare  vegetable  phenomena. 
On  the  coast  its  tropical  latitude  exhibits  itself  in  its  pro- 
ductions, but  the  rarefaction  of  the  air  attendant  on  ele- 
vation gradually  neutralizes  this,  until  at  the  central 
points  we  find  growing  the  productions  of  colder  climes» 


MEXICO    UNDER    THE    VICEROYS.  23 

Thus  Mexico,  Guanajuato,  and  Zacatecas,  enjoy  a  far 
different  temperature  from  that  of  Vera  Cruz,  Tampico, 
and  other  cities  on  the  coast.  On  the  ascent  from  Vera 
Cruz  to  Mexico,  Humboldt  says  that  climates  succeed 
each  other  by  stories,  and  in  the  course  of  forty-eight 
hours  we  pass  through  every  variety  of  vegetation.  The 
tropical  plants  are  succeeded  by  the  oak,  and  the  salu- 
brious air  of  Jalapa  replaces  the  deadly  atmosphere  of 
Vera  Cruz.  The  sky  is  generally  cloudless  and  without 
rain,  and  a  succession  of  hills,  seemingly  at  some  remote 
day  the  boundaries  of  lakes,  are  now  the  limits  of  exten- 
sive plains  or  llanos.  The  country  is  barren  because  it 
is  dry,  and  every  stream  is  accompanied  with  fertility. 
The  first  of  these  stories  is  called  the  tierra  caliente,  or 
hot,  where  the  fruits  and  diseases  of  the  tropics  are  pro- 
duced ;  the  tierra  templada,  or  temperate,  a  term  needing 
no  explanation ;  while  far  beyond  the  city  is  the  tierra 
fria^  where  the  vegetation  is  alpine  and  the  hills  are 
covered  with  eternal  snow. 

The  present  states  of  Mexico  are  nineteen  in  number : 
Yucatan,  Tabasco,  Chiapas,  and  Oaxaca,  Vera  Cruz, 
Tamaulipas,  St.  Luis  de  Potosi,  New  Leon,  Coahuila, 
Puebla,  Mexico,  Valladolid,  Guadalajara,  Sonora,  Sina- 
loa,  Guanajuato,  Queretaro,  Zacatecas,  Durango,  Chi- 
huahua, New  Mexico,  and  the  Californias.  In  several 
instances  two  of  these  are  united  to  form  one  state. 
Thus  w^as  the  country  divided  previous  to  the  revolu- 
tion, and  so  it  has  continued  ;  with  the  exception  only, 
that  the  governments  of  the  Intendentes  de  provindas 
have  now  become  states,  and  that  some  of  the  southern 
provinces  have  (as  now  they  may)  occupied  a  position 
difficult  to  define,  now  claiming  to  belong  to  Central 
America,  now  to  Mexico,  and  again  to  be  independent. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  REVOLUTION. 

Abdication  of  the  Bourbons  in  Spain — Effects  in  Spain — Effects 
in  ^lexico — Supreme  central  junta  resigns — Change  in  the 
Spadish  constitution — Insurrections  in  America — Vanegas 
appointed  viceroy — Hidalgo. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  180S,  by  means  of  a  series  of 
fraud,  and  treason,  which  recalls  to  us  the  annals  of  that 
prince  whom  Machiavelli  immortalized,  Charles  IV. 
of  Spain,  his  son  and  rival  Ferdinand  VII.,  and  the 
male  members  of  his  family,  were  induced  to  place 
themselves  in  the  power  of  Napoleon  at  Bayonne,  and  to 
surrender,  for  themselves  and  their  heirs,  all  right  to  the 
crown  of  Spain.  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  elder  brother 
of  the  emperor  of  the  French,  was  immediately  placed 
in  the  vacant  throne,  and  a  constitution  promulgated  for 
the  government  of  the  Spanish  empire,  by  which  the 
subjects  of  the  American  colonies  were  to  enjoy  all  the 
privileges  of  the  mother  country,  and  to  be  represented 
by  deputies  in  the  Cortes  or  General  Congress  at 
Madrid.  The  nobles  of  Spain,  effete  with  luxury  and 
forgetful  of  the  chivalry  which  had  made  them  the  admi- 
ration of  Europe,  submitted  to  the  new  authorities  im- 
posed by  fraud  and  violence  on  the  nation,  while  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  rejected  tlie  rule  with  scorn. 
Insurrections  broke  out  every  where  in  the  kingdom,  and 
Juntas  or  boards  of  direction  were  formed  in  every 
place  for  the  support  of  the  national  cause. 

Success  attends  all  popular  movements.  When  a 
people  rises  in  its  might  it  is  sure  of  success.     The 


THE    REVOLUTION.  25 

attacks  of  the  French  were  repelled  with  great  valor ;  at 
Baylen  a  whole  army  was  forced  to  surrender,  and  those 
who  kept  the  field  began  gradually  to  waste  away, 
under  the  influence  of  what  might  be  considered  assas- 
sination, were  not  all  things  justifiable  in  a  people 
fighting  for  its  liberty  and  integrity.  The  country  was 
at  last  partially  freed  from  the  pollution  of  the  French, 
and  a  supreme  junta  established  at  Seville,  to  watch 
over  the  interests  of  Ferdinand  VII.,  yet  a  prisoner, 
which  claimed  from  every  Spanish  subject  the  same 
obedience  due  the  monarch. 

The  new^s  of  the  captivity  of  the  monarch  and  the 
abdication  of  the  princes  they  had  been  so  faithful  to, 
produced  in  Mexico  and  in  all  the  Spanish  colonies  a 
feeling  of  the  greatest  dismay.  It  shook  loose  the  whole 
social  system,  it  broke  all  the  links  of  society,  and  revealed 
to  all  the  necessity  of  some  provision  against  the  effects  of 
convulsion  not  to  be  influenced  or  controlled  by  the 
action  of  persons  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  feelings 
called  forth  were,  however,  various  in  character,  and  the 
only  universal  sentiment  seemed  that  of  opposition  to 
the  French. 

The  dethronement  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons  was  first 
proclaimed  to  the  people  of  Mexico  on  the  20th  of  July, 
1808,  by  the  viceroy,  who  declared  himself  deter- 
mined to  sustain  their  interest  in  his  government.  This 
seemed  a  general  determination  throughout  all  Spanish 
America.  In  Havana  the  captain-general  Somruelos 
decided  on  this  course,  in  which  he  was  sustained  by 
the  people,  the  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  the  army. 
In  Buenos  Ayres,  Liniers,  an  officer  of  French  extrac- 
tion, who  had  been  made  viceroy  in  consequence  of 
the  valor  displayed  in  resisting  the  English  invasion 
under  Sir  Home  Popham,  having  exhibited  some  dispo- 


26  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

sition  to  favor  King  Joseph,  or  at  least  to  remain  neu- 
tral until  the  difficulties  of  the  peninsula  should  be  set- 
tled, insisting  that  Buenos  Ayres  should  be  a  dependency 
of  the  Spanish  crown,  was  at  once  displaced,  and  Don 
Baltasar  de  Cisneros  was  sent  to  replace  him  by  the 
junta.  So  it  was  in  Grenada,  where  war  was  declared 
by  the  audiencia  against  all  the  partisans  of  Bonaparte, 
and  at  Popayan  and  Quito.  Iturrigaray,  the  viceroy, 
soon  after  made  known  the  establishment  of  the  junta, 
and  required  the  ayuntamiento  to  submit  to  its  orders. 
The  seed  had  now  begun  to  ripen :  they  were  yet  faithful 
to  Ferdinand  ;  he  was  still  their  monarch ;  but  they  re- 
collected that  Mexico  and  Spain  were  two  kingdoms, 
that  the  Junta  had  no  authority,  either  direct  or  by  im- 
plication, in  Mexico,  and  refused  it  obedience,  at  the 
same  time  recommending  the  establishment  of  a  similar 
body,  to  be  composed  of  deputies  from  all  the  local  ca- 
hildos,  in  Mexico,  to  take  care  of  the  interests  of  Ferdi- 
nand VII.  in  his  Mexican  possessions.  Iturrigaray  was 
inclined  to  give  his  assent  to  this  scheme ;  and  judging 
from  this  fact  and  his  great  popularity,  it  is  probable  he 
was  a  kind,  sensible  man,  too  good  for  those  with  whom 
he  had  to  deal.  We  may  here  state  that  in  the  ayunta- 
miento of  Mexico  there  chanced  to  be  a  majority  of 
natives  of  the  soil.  This  action  of  Iturrigaray  was  of 
course  opposed  by  the  audiencia,  composed  as  it  will 
be  remembered  oioidores^  fiscaks  and  the  military  and 
civil  officers  sent  out  from  Spain,  erected  into  a  species  of 
oligarchy  and  forbidden  by  law  to  marry  with  the 
children  of  the  soil.  Finding  their  remonstrances  vain, 
the  audiencia  arrested  the  viceroy  in  his  palace,  and 
confided  his  functions  temporarily  to  the  archbishop  of 
Lizana.  The  audiencia,  by  a  system  of  bold  and  op- 
pressive action,  drowned  all  opposition  to  the  authority 


THE    REVOLUTION.  27 

of  the  central  junta,  which,  on  its  becoming  evident  that 
the  archbishop  was  incompetent,  endowed  it  with  all 
the  viceroy's  authority,  until  some  noble  could  be 
found  in  Spain  on  whom  it  might  confer  the  vacant  ap- 
pointment. Thus  things  continued  during  1809,  a  year 
of  great  distress  in  Spain,  the  French  having  overrun 
the  whole  countrj^  and  the  junta  being  driven  to  Cadiz, 
its  last  foothold,  from  Seville.  The  junta  was  now  evi- 
dently incompetent,  and  it  laid  down  its  power.  It  how- 
ever previously  summoned  a  Cortes,  or  council  of  the 
whole  nation,  which  was  to  convene  at  Cadiz  on  the  1st 
of  March,  1810,  and  in  which  the  American  kingdoms 
were  to  be  represented  as  integral  portions  of  the  em- 
pire. As  they  could  not  be  notified  in  time,  the  places  of 
American  deputies  were  to  be  filled  temporarily  by  per- 
sons chosen  in  Spain.  The  supreme  central  junta 
having  appointed  a  regency  of  five  to  administer  the 
government  until  the  meeting  of  the  cortes  in  February, 
1810,  disappeared  from  history.  The  regency  imme- 
diately addressed  a  circular  decree  to  the  different  pro- 
vinces of  the  Indies,  calling  upon  them  w^ithout  delay  to 
elect  their  deputies,  who  were  to  be  in  number  twenty- 
six  ;  this  decree  was  accompanied  by  an  appeal  to  the 
people,  reminding  them  that  "  they  were  new  raised  to 
the  dignity  of  freemen^'^''  and  imploring  those  who  would 
be  called  on  to  vote  for  the  deputies,  to  remember  that 
"  their  lot  no  longer  depended  upon  the  will  of  kings ^ 
viceroys^  or  governors y  hut  would  he  determined  by 
themselves. ''^  There  was  now  no  withdrawal ;  the  die 
was  cast,  the  collars  were  cast  from  the  necks  of  the 
slaves,  and  no  event  which  could  occur  would  rivet 
them  again.  Thus  it  seemed  to  the  governing  class  in 
America,  and  to  those  who  had  so  long  submitted.  The 
feeling  of  the  former  was  that  the  existing  government 


*2S  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

was  subverted;  of  the  latter,  that  joy  those  only 
could  know  who  had  been  taught  that  ^^  while  one 
Spaniard  remained,  he  Imd  a  right  to  govern  the  Ameri- 
cans.'^^ 

The  reverses  sustained  by  the  Spanish  arms  had 
taught  the  Mexicans  to  hope  they  would  be  able  to 
free  themselves  from  the  control  of  the  audiencia,  the 
idea  of  popular  rights  not  seeming  to  have  entered  their 
minds,  while  even  the  Spanish  othce-holders  seemed  to 
be  divided,  a  large  party  wishing  to  remain  neutrals,  as 
had  been  done  in  the  dispute  between  the  first  Bourbon 
king  and  the  house  of  Austria.  The  people  took  ad- 
vantage of  this ;  parties  were  formed,  and  it  become  evi- 
dent that  a  slight  spark  would  produce  a  general  confla- 
gration. Rebellion  had  taken  place  in  La  Plata,  which 
Avas  suppressed,  and  in  Quito,  where  the  people  over- 
awed the  presidente,  and  a  confederation  of  the  pro- 
vinces of  Guayaquil,  Popayan,  Panama  and  Quito  arose, 
which  professed  obedience  to  Ferdinand  VII.  at  the 
same  time  that  it  denounced  the  authority  of  the  cen- 
tral junta.  In  all  the  American  dominions,  except 
Mexico,  there  had  been  difficulties;  and  there,  too,  the 
match  was  burning  slowly  but  surely.  As  the  news  of 
the  Spanish  disasters  became  known  through  Mexico, 
associations  were  formed  far  and  wide  to  further  the 
general  scheme  of  independence  of  the  Spanish  junta 
or  audiencia.  The  exertions  of  these,  however,  a 
watchful  government  contrived  to  foil,  and  by  prompt 
action  prevented  more  than  one  attempt  at  revolution ; 
as  at  Vallodolid,  in  May,  1810,  where  the  conspirators 
were  arrested,  and  we  need  not  say,  executed  just  as  all 
had  been  prepared  for  action. 

At  this  crisis  came  Don  Francisco  Xavier  Vanegas  to 
assume  the  viceroyalty.     He  was  the  last  man  to  whom, 


THE    REVOLUTION.  29 

at  this  crisis,  authority  should  have  been  confided  ;  he 
was  brave,  and  valor  was  needed  to  enable  him  to  fulfil 
the  duties  of  ruler  of  a  realm  on  the  eve  of  convulsion, 
but  he  was  passionate  when  he  should  have  been  careful, 
and  hasty  when  every  word  should  have  been  uttered 
with  consideration  and  reflection.  The  mild  Iturriga- 
ray  might  have  restored  quiet.  Vanegas  but  hurried  on 
the  outbreak.  He  most  imprudently  continued,  with 
greater  vigor,  the  course  marked  out  by  the  audiencia, 
and  left  to  the  people  no  hopes,  but  of  resistance,  or 
doing  what  never  yet  people  did,  resuming  duties  from 
which  they  had  been  released.  The  insurrection  had 
been  suppressed  at  Valladolid,  the  capital  of  Michoa- 
can,  but  broke  out  in  Guanajuato,  where  a  remarkable 
man  appeared  on  the  stage. 


HIDALGO. 

Don  Miguel  Hidalgo  y  Costilla  was  the  Cura^  or 
parish  priest  of  Dolores,  a  quiet  and  secluded  town  in 
the  state,  or  as  it  was  then  called,  intendencia  of  Guana- 
juato, midway  between  San  Luis  de  Potosi  and  Guana- 
juato. He  was  a  man  of  undeniable  acquirements,  who 
had  read  much  and  thought  more,  who  was  devoted  to 
his  duties  and  evidently  anxious  to  promote  a  knowledge 
of  the  branches  of  industry  then  almost  unknown  in 
Mexico.  He  had  introduced  the  silk-worm,  in  the  rear- 
ing of  which  in  1810  his  people  had  made  much  pro- 
gress, and  had  turned  his  attention  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  vine,  seeing,  as  all  must  who  look  at  the  peculiarities 
of  the  soil  and  climate  of  Mexico,  that  it  was  calculated 
to  become  a  gre^t  source  of  wealth.  Hidalgo  was 
a  man  of  books ;  a  mighty  revolution  had  taken  place 


30  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

on  the  American  continent,  of  which  he  could  not  be 
ignorant,  and  the  events  of  later  date  in  Europe  officially 
promulgated  had  awakened  a  deep  feeling  in  the  whole 
people,  to  which  he  was  no  stranger.  A  quiet,  unam- 
bitious, meditative  man,  he  was  far  in  advance  of  the 
most  of  his  countrjmen,  but  might  have  continued  to 
dream  of  freedom,  yet  restricted  his  sphere  of  action  to 
his  own  cure,  had  he  not  been  called  forth  by  one  of 
those  personal  wrongs,  in  all  cases  found  to  be  the  most 
powerful  means  of  awakening  man  to  a  perception  of  the 
sufferings  of  his  neighbour. 

It  had  ever  been  the  policy  of  Spain  not  only  to 
wring  from  Mexico  and  the  other  Indies  the  produce  of 
their  mines  and  peculiar  wealth,  but  to  prohibit  them 
from  die  pursuit  of  all  industry  which  would  conflict  with 
the  interests  of  the  mother  country-.  Therefore,  except 
in  one  remote  part  of  the  country  whence  it  could  never 
be  brought  to  a  market,  the  production  of  wine  and  the 
cultivation  of  vineyards  had  always  been  prohibited  in 
New  Spain  or  Mexico.  Hidalgo  had  planted  around 
his  modest  curacy  a  vineyard,  which  he  was,  by  a  posi- 
tive order  from  the  audiencia  at  Mexico,  ordered  to 
destroy.  The  quiet  student  had  planted  his  vines  in  his 
leisure  hours.  In  his  lonely  life  they  had  been  to  him 
as  children.  He  would  not  obey,  and  soldiers  were 
sent  to  enforce  the  order.  The  fruits  of  his  labor  were 
destroyed ;  the  vines  were  cut  down  and  burned ;  but 
from  their  ashes  arose  a  more  maddening  spirit  than  pos- 
sibly even  the  vine  had  previously  given  birth  to. 

This  private  wrong,  added  to  the  many  oppressions 
to  which  he  was  subjected  together  with  the  mass  of  his 
countrymen,  animated  him,  and  may  account  for  the 
stern,  dogged,  almost  Saxon  perseverance  with  which 
he  began  this  contest,  in  which  every-  chance  was  against 


THE    REVOLUTION.  31 

him  personally,  and  in  favor  of  his  country,  in  the 
result.  The  dark  spirit  of  the  Spanish  rule  had  met  the 
only  feeling  which  could  contend  with  it,  the  resolution 
of  a  man  w^ho  knew  his  country's  rights  and  was  deter- 
mined to  maintain  them.  The  whole  people  thought  as 
he  did,  and  it  was  not  difficult  to  form  a  party  to  sustain 
him.  It  has  been  said  that  the  pulpit  and  confessional 
were  used  by  him  to  promote  his  views ;  and  if  so,  never 
were  the  powers  which  are  sheltered  by  it,  applied  to  a 
purpose  against  which  so  little  can  be  said  with  justice. 
Certain  it  is,  that  he  used  so  little  concealment  that 
Allende,  Aldama,  and  Abasolo,  three  Mexican  officers 
in  garrison  at  Guanajuato,  and  the  first  to  vvhom  he  im- 
parted his  plans,  were  ordered  by  the  superior  powers 
of  Intcndencia  to  be  arrested.  This  mischance  did  not 
destroy  the  confidence  of  Hidalgo,  who,  having  been 
joined  by  Allende  on  the  13th  of  September,  1810, 
three  days  after,  on  the  anniversary  almost  of  the  arrest 
of  Iturrigaray  two  years  before,  commenced  the  revolt 
by  seizing  on  seven  Europeans  living  in  Dolores,  and 
the  confiscation  of  their  property,  which  he  immediately 
distributed  among  his  parishoners. 

There  is  a  hackneyed  proverb,  that  no  man  is  a  hero 
to  his  valet'de-chambre,  and  that  a  prophet  is  without 
honor  in  his  own  country.  This  may  be  so  generally ; 
but  if  so,  it  enhances  the  merit  of  Hidalgo,  who  was 
followed  by  all  his  parishioners.  The  news  of  his  enter- 
prise spread  wide  among  the  people,  who  had  evidently 
been  waiting  long  for  the  signal  to  act ;  so  that  within 
twenty- four  hours,  the  patriot-priest  was  at  the  head  of 
a  force  powerful  enough  to  enable  him,  on  the  17th  of 
September,  to  occupy  San  Felipe,  and  on  the  next  day 
San  Miguel  el  Grande  ;  of  which  places  the  united 
population  was  more  than  thirty  thousand.    The  property 


32  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

of  the  Spaniards  was  confiscated,  and  enabled  him  to 
add  yet  more  to  his  numbers.  In  this  enterprise 
Hidalgo  had  unfurled  a  rude  copy  of  the  picture  of  our 
Lady  of  Guadelupe,  whose  shrine  has  ever  been  looked 
on  with  peculiar  reverence  in  Mexico,  and  gave  to  his 
undertaking  the  air  more  of  crusade  than  a  civil  war. 
Unfortunately,  the  worst  features  of  crusades  and  pil- 
grimages were  imitated  by  his  followers. 

He  wished  to  attack  Guanajuato,  the  capital  of  the 
province,  and  the  depot  of  the  wealth  of  the  Spaniards 
in  that  country.  The  chief  of  the  province,  Rianon,  a 
great  favorite  in  Mexico,  and  a  man  universally 
respected  for  his  courage  and  humanity,  was  in  com- 
mand of  a  large  body  of  troops  ;  and  as  the  population, 
seventy-five  thousand  men,  had  not  as  yet  pronounced  ; 
Hidalgo  was  afraid  to  risk  the  attempt.  The  people, 
however,  began  at  last  to  give  evidence  of  a  disposition 
to  take  sides  with  Hidalgo.  Rianon  determined  not  to 
defend  the  city,  but  shut  himself  up  with  all  the  Euro- 
peans, and  the  gold,  silver,  and  quicksilver  in  the 
Alhondega  or  granary-,  a  strong  building  and  amply 
provisioned,  in  which  he  evidently  intended  to  defend 
himself.  On  the  morning  of  September  28th,  Don  Ma- 
riano Abasolo,  one  of  the  Mexican  officers  before 
referred  to  as  partisans  of  Hidalgo,  appeared  before  the 
town  in  the  uniform  of  the  insurgents,  and  presented  a 
letter  from  the  cura  Hidalgo,  <■<■  announcing  that  he  had 
been  elected  captain-general  of  America,"  by  the  unan- 
imous choice  of  his  followers,  and  been  recognised  by 
the  ayuntamientos  of  the  towns  of  Celaya,  San  Muguel, 
San  Felipe,  &c.  That  he  had  proclaimed  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  country-,  the  only  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
which  was  the  presence  of  the  Europeans,  whom  it  was 
necessary  to  banish,  and  whose  property,  obtained  by 


THE    REVOLUTION.  33 

the  authority  of  oppressive  laws,  injurious  to  the  people, 
should  be  confiscated.  He  promised,  however,  protec- 
tion to  the  Spainards  if  they  would  submit,  and  that 
their  persons  should  be  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety. 
Riailon  replied  modestly,  but  decidedly ;  and  as  he  de- 
clined to  capitulate,  Hidalgo  at  once  marched  to  the 
attack.  His  army  consisted  of  twenty  tliousand  men, 
but  the  mass  of  them  were  Indians,  armed  wdth  bows, 
arrows,  slings,  machetes^  and  lances.  Arms  of  obsidian, 
the  volcanic  glass  so  constantly  referred  to  by  the  early 
historians  of  Mexico,  which  lay  neglected  since  the 
days  of  Cortez,  were  now  brought  out ;  and  a  stranger 
contrast  can  scarcely  be  imagined  than  that  presented 
by  the  Aztec  levies,  and  the  beautiful  regiment  of  La 
Reina  and  a  portion  of  the  troops  of  Celaya,  w^hich  had 
joined  Hidalgo  on  his  march  to  Guanajuato.  The 
army  of  Hidalgo  immediately  occupied  numerous  emi- 
nences, w^hich  commanded  the  Alhondega,  and  with 
their  slings  kept  up  such  a  rain  of  stones  that  scarcely  a 
person  could  appear  on  the  fortifications.  The  mus- 
ketry, however,  did  great  execution,  scarcely  a  single 
ball  being  lost,  so  dense  was  the  crowd  around  the 
building.  The  whole  population  of  the  town  declared 
in  favor  of  Hidalgo,  and  the  fate  of  the  garrison  w^as 
sealed ;  though  Riaiion  still  persisted  in  his  defence, 
which  he  prolonged  by  means  of  shells  formed  by 
filling  with  powder  the  iron  flasks  in  which  the  quick- 
silver was  contained,  which  were  thrown  by  hand  among 
the  besiegers.  The  Spaniards  at  last,  however,  became 
confused,  and  resistance  was  given  up.  The  great  gate 
was  forced  open,  and.  Rianon  fell  dead  as  all  was  lost. 

The  number  of  persons  who  fell  in  the  defence  and 
after  it,  is  not  known,  and  among  them  were  many 
Mexican  families  connected  by  marriage  with  the  ob- 
3 


34  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

noxious  Spaniards.  One  family  alone  is  said  to  have 
lost  seventeen  members;  and  the  obstinate  and  pro- 
longed defence  could  only  have  been  made  by  a  con- 
siderable number.  We  wish  we  could  close  our  eyes  to 
what  followed ;  but  justice  requires  us  to  mention  that 
cdl  in  the  Alhondega  were  slain.  The  Indians  seemed 
to  delight  in  repaying  on  their  victims  the  gnidges  of 
three  centuries ;  a  matter  of  surprise  to  all,  for  they  had 
lain  so  long  dormant  and  submissive  that  it  was  sup- 
posed they  had  forgotten  or  become  regardless  of  their 
former  distinct  nationality.  This  is  not,  however,  aston- 
ishing, for  the  histor)'  of  that  people  which  has  been 
enslaved  and  forgotten  its  lost  freedom  is  yet  to  be  writ- 
ten. In  the  Alhondega  was  found  a  vast  sura,  estimated  at 
five  millions  of  dollars,  the  possession  of  which  materially 
altered  Hidalgo's  views,  and  promised  success  to  what 
had  seemed  at  first  to  all  but  a  premature  attempt. 
The  property  of  the  Spaniards  or  Guachupines  was  sur- 
rendered to  Hidalgo's  troops;  and  so  diligent  were  they 
in  tlie  lesson  of  rapine,  that  the  ^Mexican  troops  of  to- 
day, after  thirt}--six  years  of  civil  war,  have  scarcely 
improved  on  them.  The  action  terminated  on  Friday 
night  only,  and  on  the  next  morning  not  one  building 
belonging  to  a  European  was  left  standing.  The  greatest 
scenes  of  outrage  were  committed,  which  Hidalgo  cer- 
tainly could  not  prevent.  He,  too,  was  a  Mexican,  with 
the  blood  of  the  aborigines  in  his  veins ;  though  a  priest, 
human,  and  smarting  under  recent  \NTongs,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  he  wished  to.  Policy,  too,  may  have 
influenced  him.  He  himself,  if  unsuccessful,  was 
doomed,  and  he  may  have  wished  all  around  him  should 
so  deeply  dye  their  hands  in  blood,  they  would  be  com- 
pelled to  abide  by  him  in  the  contest  which  had  begun. 
The  siege  of  the  Alhondega  of  Guanajuato  was  the  Bun- 


THE   REVOLUTION.  35 

ker-hill  of  Mexico,  and  deserves  the  attention  bestowed 
on  it. 

Hidalgo  did  not  remain  long  at  Guanajuato,  but 
while  there  established  a  mint  and  a  foundry  of  cannon, 
for  which  he  made  use  of  all  the  bells  found  in  the 
houses  of  the  Spaniards.  On  the  10th  of  October  he 
left  Guanajuato  for  Valladolid,  which  he  entered  on  the 
17th  without  resistance,  the  bishop  and  the  old  Span- 
iards flying  before  him.  The  news  of  his  successes  had 
spread  far  and  wide,  and  recruits  joined  him  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  By  universal  consent  he  was 
looked  on  as  the  head  of  the  revolution,  and  distributed 
commissions  and  organized  boards,  which  yet  more  ex- 
tensively diffused  his  schemes  and  augmented  the  num- 
ber of  his  partisans. 

The  city  of  Mexico  was  taken  aghast  at  the  capture 
of  Guanajuato,  in  which,  besides  the  mere  town,  much 
more  had  been  lost.  The  prestige  of  tacit  obedience  had 
been  broken,  the  whole  country  was  in  arms,  and  the 
depot  of  one  of  the  mining  districts  had  been  sacked. 
Vanegas,  the  new  viceroy,  who  had  been  installed  but 
two  days  previous  to  the  outbreak,  displayed  great  firm- 
ness and  prudence,  in  spite  of  the  persuasions  of  his 
counsellors,  who  utterly  contemned  the  Mexican  people, 
and  maintained  that  the  first  tuck  of  the  drum  would  put 
them  to  flight.  This  was  but  natural ;  they  had  been 
long  obedient,  and  persons  who  submit  are  always 
despised.  It  will  be  remembered  that  during  the 
American  Revolution,  after  more  than  one  coUision  had 
taken  place,  persons  quite  as  wise  maintained  that  two 
regiments  would  suffice  to  march  through  the  colonies. 

The  viceroy  ordered  troops  from  Puebla,  Orizaba, 
and  Toluca,  to  the  capital ;  and  at  the  same  time,  to  con- 
ciliate the  Mexicans,  conferred  important  military  com- 


36  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

mands  on  many  Creoles.  In  this  way  he  corrupted  one 
from  whom  much  was  expected,  the  Conde  de  Cadena, 
who  forgot  his  country  and  died  afterguards  in  defence 
of  the  Spanish  authority.  Calleja  was  ordered  to  march 
with  his  troops,  a  brigade,  from  San  Luis  de  Potosi, 
against  Hidalgo,  who  was  excommunicated  by  his  supe- 
perior,  the  bishop  of  Valladolid.  As  people  naturally 
asked  what  offence  he  had  committed  to  bring  on  him 
the  ecclesiastical  censure,  the  archbishop  Lizana  and 
the  inquisition,  against  the  authority  of  whom  he  was  a 
bold  man  who  would  appeal,  were  induced  to  ratify  this 
sentence,  and  pronounce  an  excommunication  against 
any  who  should  doubt  its  validity.  The  assistance  de- 
rived from  this  spiritual  power  was  more  than  neutral- 
ized by  the  conferring  of  offices  on  all  the  Spaniards  who 
participated  in  the  deposition  of  the  viceroy  Iturrigaray, 
whom  the  Mexicans  considered  to  be  a  sufferer  in  their 
cause.  This  most  injudicious  course  renewed  all  the 
feelings  of  disaffection  which  had  been  excited  by  the 
deposition  of  the  viceroy,  and  was  turned  to  the  best 
advantage  by  the  friends  of  liberty. 

When  Hidalgo  reached  Valladolid  he  was  at  the  head 
of  fifty  thousand  men,  and  in  addition  to  the  numbers  who 
joined  him  there,  he  was  reinforced  by  the  militia  of  the 
province  and  the  dragoons  of  Michoacan,  both  of  which 
were  well  equipped  and  in  good  discipline.  The  most 
valuable  addition  he  received,  however,  was  in  the  per- 
son of  Don  Jose  Maria  Morelos,  also  a  priest,  cura  of 
the  town  of  Nucapetaro,  an  old  friend  whom  he  knew 
well,  and  on  whom  he  conferred  the  command  of  the 
whole  south-western  coast.  On  Morelos,  after  the  death 
of  Hidalgo,  rested  the  mantle  of  command ;  and  some 
idea  of  his  enthusiasm  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that 
he  set  out,  on  the  receipt  of  his  commission,  accom- 


THE    REVOLUTION.  37 

panied  with  but  five  badly  armed  servants,  with  the  pro- 
mise that  within  a  year  he  would  take  Acapulco,  a  feat 
which  he  absolutely  achieved.  On  the  19th  Hidalgo 
left  Valladolid,  and  on  the  28th  reached  Toluca,  which  is 
but  twelve  leagues  from  the  city  of  Mexico. 

Vanegas  had  found  means  to  collect  about  seven  thou- 
sand men  in  and  near  the  city  of  Mexico,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Truxillo,  and  the  afterwards  celebrated 
Don  Augustino  Iturbide,  then  a  subordinate  officer  in  the 
royal  artillery.  This  force  was  defeated  by  the  insurgents 
commanded  by  Allende  and  Hidalgo  in  person,  on  the 
30th  of  October,  at  Las  Ciiices^  a  mountain  pass  between 
Mexico  and  Toluca.  Hidalgo's  forces  were  supposed  to 
have  been  in  number  not  less  than  sixty  thousand ;  those 
commanded  by  Truxillo  did  not  exceed  seven  thousand. 
In  the  first  action,  as  might  have  been  reasonably  antici- 
pated, the  royal  troops  were  worsted ;  the  native  regu- 
lars, however,  behaved  with  gallantry  and  determination, 
and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  undisciplined  and  badly 
armed  mob  of  Indians,  of  which  the  curate's  army  con- 
sisted almost  entirely,  would  be  unable  to  resist  the 
attack  of  a  force  much  larger  than  that  which  had  been 
repulsed. 

In  this  action,  it  may  be  remarked,  Truxillo  com- 
mitted an  act  which  was  ever  considered  by  the  patriots 
to  justify  all  their  subsequent  outrages.  An  insurgent 
officer  with  a  flag  was  decoyed  within  gunshot  of  the 
royal  hues  and  basely  assassinated.  This  Truxillo 
boasted  of  in  his  despatch,  and  was  justified  and  ap- 
plauded subsequently  by  the  viceroyVanegas,  who  main- 
tained that  the  ordinary  rules  of  war  were  not  to  be 
observed  towards  Hidalgo's  forces.  Vanegas  was, 
however,  so  much  terrified  at  the  near  approach  of  the 
native  army,  that  he,  too,  found  it  necessary  to  appeal  to 


38  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

superstition;  and  having  ordered  the  image  of  the 
V'irgin  of  Los  Reinedios  to  be  brought  in  great  state 
from  its  humble  chapel,  besought  her  aid,  and  laid  at  its 
feet  his  baton  of  command.  This  may  account  for  the 
often  repeated  story,  that  in  a  proclamation  the  Blessed 
Virgin  had  been  appointed  captain-general  of  the  forces  of 
the  viceroy.  The  public  accounts  circulated  in  Mexico 
represented  Truxillo  as  having  gained  a  great  victory, 
though  circumstances  compelled  him  to  retreat,  and  recall 
to  our  minds  some  of  the  events  of  our  own  day.  It  is  a 
matter  of  curiosity,  that  no  Mexican  general  before  or 
since  the  revolution  ever  could  be  induced  to  confess 
that  he  was  defeated.  Every  preparation  was  made  to 
defend  the  capital,  against  which  Hidalgo  advanced  till 
he  was  in  sight  of  the  towers  and  domes,  when  he  first 
halted  and  then  began  to  recede.  On  this  occasion  his 
conduct  has  been  gravely  censured,  and  Allende,  a  true 
soldier,  was,  it  is  said,  most  indignant.  His  courage 
cannot  be  suspected ;  he  had  witnessed,  without  attempt- 
ing to  check  them,  too  many  excesses,  for  his  conduct 
to  be  attributed  to  humanity  and  a  desire  to  save 
Mexico  from  the  horrors  of  a  siege  or  an  assault,  neces- 
sary evils,  which  all  who  appeal  to  arms  are  aware  can 
neither  be  vindicated  or  prevented.  The  true  reason  was, 
probably,  that  he  could  not  conceive  that  the  viceroy 
could  collect  such  a  force,  and  was  aware  that  another 
victory  like  that  of  Las  Cruces  would  be  his  ruin.  His 
forces  had  committed  all  possible  excesses,  and  had 
suffered  from  the  batteries  of  Truxillo  so  fearfully,  that 
he  knew  they  could  not  again  be  brought  to  the  charge. 
So  ignorant  were  they  of  artillery,  that  they  had  attempted 
to  muzzle  the  guns  by  cramming  them  with  their  straw 
hats,  until  hundreds  had  been  thus  slain.     He  was  also 


THE  revolution;  39 

nearly  without  ammunition ;  and  we  need  not  ask  for 
more  reasons. 

He  therefore  commenced  a  retreat,  but  on  the  7th  of 
November  fell  in  with  the  advance  of  the  viceroy's 
army,  commanded  by  Calleja.  The  viceroy's  troops 
were  chiefly  Creoles,  who  were  wavering  in  their 
duty ;  and  it  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  officers 
who  served  there,  that  had  Hidalgo  delayed  his  attack, 
there  is  no  doubt  they  would  have  sided  with  their 
countrymen.  This  was  not  done ;  the  battle  com- 
menced, Calleja  advancing  in  five  separate  columns, 
which  broke  the  insurgent  line  and  made  all  that  followed 
a  pursuit  and  a  slaughter.  The  Creole  troops  now  had 
chosen  their  course,  and  for  many  years  continued  the 
chief  support  of  Spain  and  the  terror  of  the  insurgents. 
They  seem  to  have  been  ever  led  by  their  officers,  Cadena, 
Iturbide,  &c.,  and  it  was  not  until  the  dethronement  of 
the  latter,  when  the  Spanish  flag  was  furled  for  ever  in 
Mexico,  that  they  seem  to  have  remembered  they  had  a 
country.  We  cannot  but  admire  the  consummate  skill 
which  enabled  the  viceroy  to  make  men  fight  against 
their  own  interests ;  and  the  history  of  this  part  of  the 
Mexican  revolution  will  more  than  once  recall  to  us  that 
part  of  the  history  of  Italy  made  famous  by  the  crimes 
and  the  talent  of  the  Borgia  and  Sforza. 

The  number  of  Indians  killed  at  Aculco  is  said  to 
have  exceeded  ten  thousand,  but  Hidalgo  managed  to 
collect  a  large  army  from  the  fugitives,  and  with  most  of 
the  officers  eflfected  an  escape  to  Valladolid.  Allende 
retreated  to  Guanajuato,  w^here  he  murdered  in  cold 
blood  two  hundred  and  forty-nine  Europeans.  Too 
much  censure  cannot  be  bestowed  on  this  atrocity, 
which,  however,  will  find  a  precedent  in  the  history  of 
most  revolutions.     At  all  events,  it  should  not  be  ccm- 


40  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

plained  of  by  the  partisans  of  the  viceroy,  who  had  officially 
announced,  that  the  customs  of  civilized  war  did  not 
apply  to  the  followers  of  the  heretic  and  rebel,  Hidalgo. 
There  is  much  excuse  to  be  made  for  all  insurgents,  who 
are  ever  treated  as  traitors  until  their  success  covers 
them  with  the  glare  of  fame,  if  not  the  true  gold  of 
patriotism. 

Hidalgo  arrived  at  Valladolid  on  the  14th  of  Novem- 
ber, whence  he  proceeded  to  Guadalajara,  which  his 
subordinates  had  occupied  on  the  day  of  his  defeat  at 
Aculco.  Here  he  was  joined  by  the  licenciate  Ignacio 
Lopez  Rayon,  w^ho  afterwards  became  his  recretary,  and 
was  to  the  establishment  of  a  civil  government  in  the 
provinces  successively  conquered  by  the  insurgents, 
what  Hidalgo  and  Morelos  were  in  the  military  conduct 
of  the  revolution.  Previous  to  the  establishment  of  the 
junta  of  Zitacuaro,  Rayon's  first  service,  the  insurgent 
was  a  man  recognising  no  authority  but  arms,  and 
their  army  but  a  band  of  men  w^ithout  any  colorable 
authority. 

On  the  24th  of  November  Hidalgo  made  a  triumphal 
entry  into  Guadalajara,  where,  though  still  under  ex- 
communication, he  participated  in  the  Te  Deum,  in 
honor  of  his  successes.  It  is  here  worthy  of  remark, 
that  the  native  clergy  generally  sustained  him  in  his 
course,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  ecclesiastical  decree 
against  him. 

Allende  here  joined  him,  and  the  two  proceeded  to 
provide  artillery  to  replace  the  guns  they  had  lost  at 
Aculco.  This  was  effected  by  bringing  from  San  Bias, 
the  great  dock-yard  on  the  Pacific,  of  the  Spanish 
government,  of  which  Morelos  had  possessed  himself,  a 
great  number  of  guns,  some  of  which  were  of  heavy 
calibre,  transported  by  Indians  over  the  western  Cordil- 


THE   REVOLUTION.  41 

lera,  thought  then  impassable,  and  over  which  no  road 
has  as  yet  been  constructed,  except  at  a  few  widely  dis- 
tant spots.  Here  he  committed  one  of  those  actions 
which  must  forever  stain  his  character.  Upwards  of 
seven  hundred  Europeans  who  had  remained  quiet  at 
home,  were  imprisoned  and  brought  out  by  twenties  and 
thirties  at  night,  taken  to  quiet  places,  and  murdered. 
This  system  he  had  commenced  at  Valladolid,  where 
during  three  days  seventy  persons  were  beheaded  in  the 
public  square,  because  they  were  Spaniards. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  he  intended  to  act  on  this 
principle  throughout  the  war ;  for,  on  his  trial,  an  authen- 
tic letter  was  produced,  written  by  him  to  one  of  his 
subordinates,  in  which  he  orders  him  to  continue  to 
arrest  as  many  Spaniards  as  possible,  and  <'  if  you  find 
any  among  them  entertaining  dangerous  opinions,  bury 
them  in  oblivion  by  putting  them  to  death  in  some 
secret  place,  where  their  fate  may  be  forever  unknown." 
If  ^his  be  from  an  authentic  letter,  we  can  but  be  thank- 
ful that  Hidalgo's  career  was  soon  terminated.  He 
had,  however,  lived  long  enough  to  accomplish  his 
mission,  to  arouse  his  people,  and  to  take  the  steps 
which  cast  his  country  in  that  sea  of  strife  from  which  it 
could  only  emerge  with  the  boon  of  independence. 

This  atrocity  so  disgusted  AUende,  who  w^as  by  no 
means  mawkishly  sentimental,  that  he  was  only  pre- 
vented from  leaving  him  by  the  approach  of  Calleja. 

The  cannon  obtained  from  San  Bias  were  so  nu- 
merous that  Hidalgo  determined,  though  he  had  but 
twelve  hundred  muskets,  to  risk  a  battle.  Allende  fore- 
saw the  consequences  of  the  total  want  of  discipline,  and 
sought  to  dissuade  him.  A  council  of  war  was  called, 
and  as  these  bodies  generally  decide  incorrectly,  he  was 
outvoted  ;  and  the  bridge  of  Calderon,  sixteen  leagues 


42  MEXICO    AND   HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

from  Guadalajara,  was  selected  as  the  place  of  resist- 
ance and  fortified.  Calleja,  after  a  delay  of  six  weeks 
in  Guanjaiiato,  came  in  sight  on  the  16th  of  January, 
1811,  when  a  general  battle  took  place,  which  realized 
all  of  Allende's  predictions.  The  Mexicans  were  par- 
tially successful  in  the  beginning,  repulsing  two  or  three 
attacks,  in  one  of  which  the  Conde  de  Cadena  was  killed. 
They  were  finally  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  explo- 
sion of  an  ammunition  wagon,  and  compelled  to  retreat, 
which  they  did  in  an  orderly  manner,  commanded  by 
Allende  and  Hidalgo,  towards  the  provindas  intemas. 
Rayon  returned  to  Guadalajara  to  secure  the  military 
chest,  which  contained  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
So  delighted  was  Calleja  at  his  success,  that  he  did  not 
attempt  to  pursue  the  insurgents,  or  to  enter  Guadala- 
jora  until  four  days  after  the  battle.  For  this  he  was 
made  Conde  de  Calderon,  a  title  under  which  he  reap- 
pears in  the  history  of  Mexico  after  the  lapse  of  ten 
years.  The  insurgent  generals  retreated  to  Saltillo,  lat 
the  head  of  four  thousand  troops,  and  there  it  was  deter- 
mined to  leave  them  under  the  command  of  Rayon, 
while  Hidalgo,  Allende,  Aldama,  and  Abasolo,  who 
had  ever  been  the  souls  of  the  revolution,  were  to  set 
out  for  the  United  States  to  purchase  arms  and  procure 
the  assistance  of  experienced  officers. 

On  the  road,  however,  they  were  surprised  by  a  for- 
mer partisan,  Don  Ignacio  Elizondo,  who  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  of  so  valuable  a  capture.  They 
were  taken  to  Chihuahua  on  the  21st  of  March,  1811 ; 
where,  from  anxiety  to  extort  a  knowledge  of  their 
schemes,  the  trial  was  prolonged  till  July,  when  Hidalgo, 
who  had  previously  been  degraded  from  the  priesthood, 
was  shot,  his  comrades  sharing  his  fate.  With  the  cow- 
ardice and  pusillanimity  peculiar  to  weak  governments. 


THE   REVOLUTION.  43 

an  attempt  was  made  to  produce  an  impression  that  they 
repented ;  but  persons  are  now  living  in  Chihuahua  who 
testify  that  they  died  bravely  and  boldly  as  they  had 
fought,  and  Hidalgo  persisted  in  his  conviction  that  the 
knell  of  the  Spanish  rule  had  been  sounded  ;  that  though 
the  viceroy  might  resist,  the  end  would  come.  He  was 
buried  in  Chihuahua;  and  a  few  years  since,  before  the 
breaking  out  of  the  present  war,  the  place  of  his  execu- 
tion was  pointed  out  to  a  party  of  American  travellers 
almost  as  a  holy  spot,  sanctified  by  the  blood  of  the 
fighting  Cura  of  Dolores.  None  can  deny  his  valor 
and  patriotism,  and  his  excesses  were  perhaps  to  be 
attributed  as  much  to  the  character  of  the  enemies  against 
whom  he  contended  as  to  himself.  Had  it  been  his  lot 
to  contend  against  a  humaner  foe,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  he  would  have  been  merciful.  The  cause  he  fought 
in  was  holy,  and  it  is  therefore  the  more  to  be  regretted 
that  he  suffered  it  to  be  sullied  with  unnecessary  blood- 
shed. In  the  long  roll  of  Mexican  leaders  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  to,  one  thing  is  sure :  few,  indeed,  are 
less  bloodstained  than  Don  Miguel  Hidalgo  y  Cos- 
tilla. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  REVOLUTION  SUBSEQUENT  TO  THE  DEATH  OF 
HIDALGO. 

Guerilla  warfare — National  junta — Manifesto  of  the  revo- 
lutionists —  ^lorelos  —  Evacuation  of  Cuautla  —  Expedition 
against  Oaxaca — Valladolid — Morelos  defeated — Expedition 
to  Tehuacan — Morelos  taken  prisoner — Executed. 

After  the  death  of  Hidalgo,  the  character  of  the 
contest  changed  its  phase  materially.  Rayon  maintained 
the  command  of  the  remnant  of  the  army  which  escaped 
from  the  bridge  of  Calderon  ;  the  Baxio  was  laid  under 
contribution  by  Muniz  and  Naverrete,  another  priest  of 
the  country ;  Puebla  was  taken  possession  of  by  Ser- 
raiio  and  Osorno,  and  far  in  the  valley  of  Mexico  parti- 
sans were  so  numerous  that  there  was  no  communication 
between  the  capital  and  the  provinces  above  it ;  even 
the  sentinels  at  the  gates  of  the  city  were  not  unfrequently 
lassoed.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  Creoles  were  unable 
to  keep  the  field  in  any  body,  and  the  royalists  con- 
trolled most  of  the  cities.  It  is  impossible  to  follow 
the  separate  chiefs  through  all  the  mazes  of  a  guerilla  war, 
when  every  day  some  partial  action  occurred,  without 
any  other  result  than  a  slaughter  of  prisoners,  quarter 
being  never  claimed  or  given.  Rayon,  we  have  already 
said,  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  saw  the  neces- 
sity of  union,  the  only  thing  which  could  enable  the 
partisans  to  oppose  an  enemy  then  conquering  them  in 
detail.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  a  national  juntu,  to 
be    created    by   some   popular    election,   and    to    be 


THE   REVOLUTION — CONTINUED.  45 

acknowledged  by  all  the  insurgent  chiefs.  As  the  seat 
of  this  body,  he  selected  the  town  of  Ziticuaro,  in 
Valladolid,  public  opinion  decidedly  sustaining  the 
insurgents  in  that  province.  With  this  view  he  occu- 
pied that  town  towards  the  end  of  May,  1811,  and  was 
lucky  enough  to  repulse  an  attack  made  on  it  by  Gene- 
ral Emperan,  with  two  thousand  men.  He  was  enabled 
on  the  10th  of  September,  following,  to  instal  a  junta 
or  provisional  government  of  five  persons,  elected  by 
as  many  landholders  as  could  be  collected  for  the 
occasion,  in  conjunction  with  the  authorities  and  people 
of  the  town. 

The  principles  propounded  by  the  junta  were 
nearly  those  afterwards  made  famous  as  the  plan  of 
Iguala,  acknowledging  Ferdinand  VII.,  on  condition 
that  he  would  reside  in  Mexico,  and  professing  a  wish 
for  an  intimate  union  with  Spain.  This,  however,  was 
probably  mere  profession,  as  Morelos,  who  had  prO' 
nounced  in  favor  of  the  junta,  had  refused  to  ac- 
knowledge a  king  on  any  terms  ;  and  Rayon  defended 
the  proposition,  only  on  the  terms  of  expediency,  the 
lower  orders  not  having  as  yet  shaken  off  all  respect 
for  the  royal  name,  though  they  were  in  flagrant  rebel- 
lion against  his  authority.  The  establishment  of  this 
government  was  hailed  with  great  enthusiasm  by  the 
Creoles  throughout  New  Spain,  which  was  never  fully 
realized.  The  junta  was  no  doubt  honest,  but  its 
authority  at  first  was  not  generally  recognised ;  and 
when  Morelos  acceded  to  it,  Calleja  contrived  to 
disperse  its  members.  It  was,  however,  the  nucleus 
around  which  was  formed  the  congress  of  Chilpanzingo, 
which  gave  consistency  to  the  action  of  the  insurgent 
chiefs.  The  manifesto  it  published  is  characterized 
with  great  moderation,  and  contained  one  proposition 


46  MEXICO    AND   HER   MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

which  placed  the  insurgents  in  the  best  position  before 
the  tribunal  of  the  world.  It  offered  to  conduct  the 
war  on  the  principles  of  civilized  nations,  and  to 
prevent,  the  wanton  sacrifice  of  prisoners.  This  docu- 
ment, which  has  been  attributed  to  Doctor  Cos,  father 
of  the  present  general,  pointed  out  to  Vanegas  the  cer- 
tainty of  the  final  triumph  of  the  patriot  cause,  boldly 
challenging  the  right  of  any  junta  in  Spain  to  control 
Mexico  during  the  imprisonment  of  the  king ;  and 
finally  proposed,  if  the  Spaniards  would  lay  down  their 
offices,  and  permit  a  general  congress  to  be  called,  not 
only  their  property  should  be  respected,  but  their  salaries 
paid.  If  they  did  this,  the  Mexicans  would  admit  them 
to  all  privileges,  recognise  the  king,  and  assist  Spain  in 
her  struggle  with  their  men  and  treasure.  Had  this  offer 
been  accepted,  how  vastly  differently  situated  would 
Spain  now  have  been  ?  She  need  never  have  placed 
herself  at  the  beck  of  England  to  shake  off  the  weight 
of  France,  or  perhaps  now  have  been  forced  to  cast 
her  queen  at  the  feet  of  Louis  Philippe,  to  disenthral 
herself  from  the  influence  of  England.  Mexico  might 
now  have  been  a  crown-property  of  Spain,  as  devotedly 
attached  to  her  as  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico — the  only 
colonies  she  retains  in  America,  because  they  were  the 
only  ones  the  central  junta  did  not  interfere  with. 
Vanegas  had  the  proposals  burned  by  the  executioner  of 
Mexico,  and  tliereby  the  destiny  of  two  nations  was 
decided.  It  now  becomes  necessary  to  refer  to  one 
repeatedly  mentioned  already,  the  history  of  whose  life 
is  that  of  the  Mexican  revolution  from  the  death  of 
Hidalgo  to  his  own. 


DON    JOSE   MARIA   MORELOS. 


THE  REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  47 


MORELOS. 

When  Hidalgo  was  in  Valladolid  in  October,  1810, 
previous  to  the  battle  of  Las  Cruces,  he  was  joined  by 
Don  Jose  Maria  Morelos,  cura  of  Nucupetaro,  a  town 
of  that  province,  on  whom  he  conferred  a  commission 
to  act  as  captain- general  of  the  provinces  on  the  south- 
western coast,  for  which  he  set  out  with  no  other  escort 
than  a  few  seryants  armed  with  old  muskets  and  lances. 
The  first  reinforcement  he  received  was  by  a  numerous 
party  of  slaves,  who  were  eager  to  win  their  freedom ; 
and  his  exigencies  were  so  great  that  the  discovery  of 
twenty  muskets  at  Petatan  was  thought  an  especial  mat- 
ter of  congratulation.  He  was  afterwards  joined  by  Don 
Jose  and  Don  Antonio  Galeaiio ;  and  in  November,  1810, 
was  at  the  head  of  one  thousand  men,  and  marched 
against  Acapulco.  This,  as  is  well  known,  was  the 
great  depot  of  the  Manilla  trade,  probably  the  busiest 
town  in  Mexico,  with  a  population  as  industrious  as  any 
people  with  Spanish  blood  and  education  can  reasonably 
be  expected  to  be.  The  possession  of  this  city  might 
in  that'quarter  be  expected  to  put  an  end  to  the  strife. 
The  commandant  of  the  district,  Don  Francisco  Paris, 
marched  against  him  at  the  head  of  a  numerous  body 
of  troops,  and  Acapulco  was  evidently  to  be  no  blood- 
less conquest. 

Though  commanding  an  inferior  force,  Morelos  did 
not  hesitate  to  attack  him,  and  under  the  cover  of  night, 
surprised  and  signally  defeated  the  royalist  force,  Janu- 
ary 25th,  1811.  The  result  of  this  battle  was  the  posses- 
sion of  eight  hundred  muskets,  five  pieces  of  artillery,  a 
large  quantity  of  ammunition,  and  Paris's  chest,  in  which 


48  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

was  a  large  sum  of  money.  At  the  same  time  seven 
hundred  prisoners  were  taken,  and,  it  is  pleasant  to 
say,  treated  with  humanity.  This  was  the  first  of  Mo- 
relos's  triumphs,  and  the  base  of  the  superstructure  of 
fame  he  raised  for  himself.  His  success  was  not  unno- 
ticed ;  and  having  baffled  the  parties  commanded  by 
Llano  and  Fuentes  subsequently,  he  became  at  once  the 
idol  of  his  countrjmen  and  tlie  terror  of  the  Spaniards. 
Men  of  talent  flocked  to  his  army,  among  whom  were 
Ermengildo  Galeano,  the  three  Bravos,  two  of  whom 
were  executed  by  Calleja  afterwards,  and.the  other  sub- 
sequently was  placed  with  Victoria  at  the  head  of 
government  in  1828.  The  whole  of  1811  was,  as  we 
have  said,  consumed  in  a  series  of  petty  engagements, 
and  by  the  great  and  successful  efforts  of  Morelos  to 
discipline  his  army,  the  mass  of  whom  were  negroes. 
With  such  an  army,  he  deserves  credit  for  the  humane 
manner  in  which  he  generally  was  able  to  conduct  the 
war. 

After  a  series  of  successful  actions,  in  Januar}',  1812 
Morelos  pushed  forward  his  advanced  guard,  under 
Bravo,  to  Calco,  with  outposts  reaching  to  San  Augus- 
tino  de  las  Cuevas.  Calleja  had  just  defeated  Hidalgo, 
and  w^as  summoned  to  oppose  him  with  his  his  army, 
which  Morelos  was  determined  to  fight  at  Cuautla 
Amilpas,  about  twenty-two  leagues  from  Mexico. 

Calleja  immediately  set  out  to  obey  the  order  of 
Vanegas,  to  oppose  Morelos  ;  but  it  is  now  necessary 
to  describe  the  events  which  occurred  on  his  march. 
The  junta  established  by  Rayon  at  Ziticuaro,  was  con- 
sidered by  the  Spaniards  as  their  most  formidable 
enemy,  and  Calleja  was  ordered  positively  to  disperse  it. 
On  the  1st  of  January-,  after  a  march  of  great  hard- 
ship, he  reached  this  place,  and  on  the  2d  carried  it. 


THE    REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  49 

The  junta  escaped  to  Sultepec,  and  Calleja  immediately 
rased  the  walls  of  the  town,  after  having  passed  a  fort- 
night there  in  the  examination  of  Rayon's  papers.  This 
was  not  all ;  the  people  were  decimated,  and  every 
house,  except  the  churches,  burned.  From  Ziticuaro  he 
proceeded  to  Mexico,  into  which  he  made  a  procession, 
and  a  Te  Deum  in  honor  of  his  victories  was  sung  in 
the  cathedral. 

On  the  14th  Calleja  left  the  capital  to  oppose 
Morelos,  who,  as  we  have  said,  was  at  Cuautla  Amilpas. 
On  the  18th  of  February  the  two  forces  first  came  in 
contact ;  on  which  occasion  Morelos,  who  had  gone  out 
to  reconnoitre,  was  near  being  taken,  and  owed  his 
safety  entirely  to  Ermengildo  Galeafio.  On  this  occasion 
Jose  Maria  Fernandez,  afterwards  known  as  General 
Victoria,  first  appeared  on  the  stage.  His  father  was  a 
land-owner  in  the  neighborhood  of  San  Luis  de  Potosi, 
and  when  the  cura  Hidalgo  first  pronounced  against  the 
government,  Fernandez,  just  twenty-two,  had  concluded 
his  studies  for  the  law.  He  immediately  determined  to 
adopt  the  popular  cause,  but  did  not  declare  himself 
until  he  saw  a  man  appear,  whom  he  thought  capable 
of  ruling  the  storm.  As  soon  as  Morelos  became  known 
he  at  once  recognised  him  as  the  man  he  sought,  and 
left  Mexico  to  place  himself  under  his  orders.  In  this 
skirmish  he  received  a  severe  wound  and  saved  Ga- 
leafio's  life.  On  this  occasion  Morelos  had  the  satisfac- 
tion to  see  his  negro  levies  meet  the  Spanish  veterans  with 
a  firmness  which  realized  all  he  had  hoped,  but  dared 
not  anticipate.  On  the  19th,  Calleja  assaulted  the  town 
in  four  columns,  with  great  fierceness.  The  Mexicans 
suffered  him  to  approach  till  within  one  hundred  yards, 
when  they  opened  on  them  a  fire  which  could  not  be 
withstoofl.     The  Spaniards  fled  precipitately,  and  Ga- 


50  MLXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

leaiio  having  discovered  a  Spanish  colonel  seeking  to 
rally  his  men,  sallied  out,  and  in  a  hand  to  hand  contest 
kUled  him.  The  consequence  was,  that  all  four  columns 
were  repulsed,  after  an  action  which  lasted  from  seven 
A.  M.  till  three  P.  INI.,  and  Calleja  was  forced  to  retreat, 
having  lost  live  hundred  men.  So  completely  was  he 
discouraged,  that  he  wrote  for  a  siege  train  to  the  vice- 
roy, who  immediately  complied  with  his  request,  and 
sent  him  reinforcements  under  Llano,  who  had  previ- 
ously served  against  Morelos.  The  courier,  however, 
who  conveyed  to  Llano  his  orders,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  insurgents,  and  Morelos  was  informed  of  the  approach 
of  this  body.  He,  however,  was  aware  that  all  Mexico 
looked  anxiously  at  Cuautla.  He  determined,  therefore, 
to  defend  himself,  and  did  so  with  the  gallantry  which 
was  his  characteristic.  Llano  was,  when  he  received  the 
viceroy's  orders,  about  to  attack  Izucar,  defended  by 
Guerrero.  During  the  revolution  this  general  has 
received  forty  wounds,  and  undergone  perils,  his  escape 
from  which  seem  miiaculous.  In  one  instance  a  shell 
exploded  in  a  house  in  w^hich  he  was  asleep  and  killed 
every  individual  but  himself.  Llano  immediately  de- 
serted this  formidable  opponent,  and  on  the  first  of 
March  joined  Calleja.  On  the  4th  both  attacked  the 
place  widi  their  batteries.  The  cannonade  continued 
for  a  long  time,  but  Cuautla  held  out  manfully.  The 
Bravos  and  Lorios  attempted  to  attack  Calleja's  rear,  but 
failed.  Calleja  attempted  to  cut  off  the  small  stream 
which  supplied  Cuautla  with  water,  but  Galeano,  in  his 
turn,  contrived  to  thwart  this  plan. 

After  various  other  attempts,  which  were  sometimes 
made  by  one  and  then  by  the  other  party,  Morelos 
determined  to  evacuate  the  town,  which  he  did  success- 
fully in  the  presence  of  a  superior  force,  by  a  manoeuvre 


THE  REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  51 

SO  peculiar,  that  it  deserves  especial  mention.  On  the 
2(J  of  May,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  the  troops  were 
formed,  the  main  body  under  command  of  Morelos, 
the  van  of  Galeano,  and  the  rear  of  the  Bravos.  They 
reached  the  Spanish  lines  and  passed  two  of  the  batte- 
ries unobserved ;  nor  was  it  until  they  reached  a  deep 
baranca  or  ravine,  that  they  were  noticed.  Over  this 
they  were  obliged  to  construct  a  bridge,  which  was  done 
with  hurdles  borne  by  the  Indians,  so  that  a  sentinel 
gave  the  alarm  before  Galeano  was  able  to  cut  him  down. 
Immediately  on  crossing  the  baranca,  the  column  was 
attacked  both  by  Llano  and  Calleja.  This  had  been  fore- 
seen, and  orders  given,  should  it  occur,  for  a  general  dis- 
persion and  to  rendezvous  at  Izucar.  So  well  was  it 
effected,  that  like  the  children  of  the  mist,  the  patriots 
became  invisible ;  and  the  royal  troops,  completely 
amazed,  began  to  fire  on  each  other.  Izucar  was  in 
possession  of  Don  Miguel  Bravo,  and  on  his  arrival 
there  Morelos  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  but  seventeen 
were  missing ;  among  whom,  however,  was  Don  Leon- 
ardo Bravo,  who  was  made  prisoner.  Calleja  was  for 
a  long  time  afraid  to  enter  Cuautla ;  when  he  did  so  it 
was  to  commit  outrages  which  must  ever  stain  his 
reputation.  On  the  16tli  the  army  returned  to  the  capi- 
tal, and  an  attempt  was  made  to  magnify  its  achieve- 
ments into  a  triumph.  Rumor  had,  however,  preceded 
the  army ;  and  every  one  knew  the  victor  had  first  been 
defeated  and  then  outwitted,  so  that  Calleja  was  ridi- 
culed. Morelos  had  received  a  slight  injury  at  Cuautla, 
which  detained  him  some  time  at  Izucar.  On  his  reco- 
very he  again  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  his  troops, 
whom  one  of  his  lieutenants,  the  Padre  Matamoras,  had 
brought  to  a  high  state  of  dicipline.  He  successively 
defeated  three  Spanish  divisions,  and  made  a  triumphal 


52  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

entry  into  Tehuacan,  a  city  of  La  Puebla,  on  the  16th 
of  September,  1812.  He  carried  the  city  of  Orizaba 
by  a  coup  de  main,  captnring  nine  pieces  of  artilleiy^  and 
an  immense  booty  in  money  and  tobacco.  On  being 
driven  by  a  superior  force  from  that  place,  he  undertook 
his  famous  expedition  against  Oaxaca,  the  most  beauti- 
ful spot  perhaps  of  all  Mexico. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  roads  in  Mexico  except 
those  connecting  the  great  cities,  and  the  army  suf- 
fered much  hardship  on  the  march.  The  city  was 
commanded  by  tlie  Brigadier  Regules,  who  sought  to 
defend  it.  The  artillery  of  the  insurgents,  commanded 
by  Don  Miguel  Mier  y  Teran,  having  silenced  that  of 
Regules,  he  made  a  last  stand  on  the  edge  of  the  moat 
which  surrounded  the  city,  over  which  there  "was  but 
one  drawbridge,  which  was  elevated,  and  the  approach 
to  it  defended  by  the  royalist  infantr}'.  The  insurgents 
having  paused  at  this  obstacle,  Guadalupe  Victoria 
swam  the  moat,  sword  in  hand,  and  cut  the  ropes  of  the 
bridge  unresisted;  the  battle  was  thus  won,  and  the 
capital  of  the  vale  of  Oaxaca  taken  possession  of  by 
Morelos.  He  then  released  all  political  offenders  (and 
many  were  confined  in  the  prisons),  and  set  about  the 
conquest  of  the  rest  of  the  province,  which  he  completed 
on  the  30th  of  August,  1813,  when  Acapulco  surren- 
dered, having  been  besieged  from  the  15th  of  February 
by  his  army,  now  equal  to  any  in  discipline  and  effec- 
tiveness. 

The  Spanish  flag  having  been  hauled  down  for  ever 
at  Acapulco,  Morelos  returned  to  Oaxaca,  where  Mata- 
moros  had  prepared  all  for  the  meeting  of  the  national 
congress,  which  was  composed  of  the  junta  ofZiticuaro, 
deputies  elected  by  Oaxaca  and  selected  from  all  those 
provinces  in  which  the  people  dared  not  meet.     This 


THE  REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  53 

bod}'  convened  September  13th,  1813,  at  the  town  of 
Chilpanzingo,  and  declared  the  independence  of  Mexi- 
co the  13th  of  November  of  that  year.  Had  this  event 
taken  place  earlier,  it  might  have  resulted  in  good  ;  but 
IMorelos  soon  after  had  an  enemy  to  oppose  him,  so 
numerous,  that  he  was  unable  fully  to  protect  it.  We 
have  mentioned  that,  at  Cuautla,  one  of  the  Bravos  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  refer  to  it  again  to  mention  an  act 
of  forbearance  which  w^ould  do  honor  to  any  country. 
Several  engagements  having  taken  place,  the  patriots 
were  in  possession  of  more  than  three  hundred  Span- 
iards, whom  Morelos  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Nicolas 
Bravo,  to  enable  him  to  effect  an  exchange  for  his  father 
Leonardo,  the  captive,  then  under  sentence  of  death  in 
Mexico.  The  whole  of  these  prisoners  were  offered  to 
Vanegas  for  Leonardo,  w^hom  the  viceroy  immediately 
ordered  to  be  executed.  The  son,  instead  of  making 
reprisals,  liberated  the  whole  body,  and  assigned  as  his 
reason  for  doing  so,  that  he  feared  he  might  not  be  able 
to  resist  the  constant  temptation  to  revenge,  their  presence 
exposed  him  to.  On  the  18th  of  November,  1813,  at 
Palmar,  Matamoros  defeated  the  Spaniards  after  a 
severe  fight,  which  lasted  eight  hours ;  cutting  off  the 
regiment  of  Asturias,  which  had  been  at  Baylen,  and 
won  there  the  cognomen  of  invincible.  This  is  not 
the  only  instance  in  which  reputations  won  in  the  penin- 
sular campaigns,  were  lost  in  America.  The  capture 
of  this  regiment,  composed  altogether  of  Europeans,  was 
considered  to  have  finally  destroyed  the  prestige  of 
Spanish  superiority,  which  had  long  trembled  before 
the  fierceness  of  the  attacks  of  Hidalgo  and  Morelos. 

An  expedition  against  Valladolid  was  agreed  on, 
which  would  have  placed  Morelos  in  connexion  with  the 
insurgents  of  the  provincias  internas,  to  effect  which  he 


54  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

collected  seven  thousand  men.  At  Valladolid,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  23d  of  December,  he  found  Llano  and 
Iturbide  at  the  head  of  a  formidable  body  of  men,  whom 
he  immediately  attacked,  and  by  whom  he  was  repulsed. 
On  the  next  morning  Iturbide  made  a  sally  which  would 
have  failed,  the  insurgents  having  after  a  short  check  been 
raUied.  Unfortunately,  a  body  of  reinforcements  for 
them,  which  arrived  just  then,  were  mistaken  for  enemies 
and  fired  upon.  They  immediately  charged  the  force  of 
Morelos.  Of  this  scene  of  confusion  Iturbide  took 
advantage,  and  routed  the  whole  army,  which  fled  to 
Puruaran. 

There  they  were  again  attacked,  and  Matamoros  made 
prisoner.  The  patriot  forces  being  signally  defeated, 
January  6th,  1814,  Morelos  sought  in  vain  to  exchange 
for  Matamoros  a  number  of  the  prisoners  taken  at  Pal- 
mar, when  the  regiment  of  Asturias  was  cut  to  pieces. 
Calleja,  however,  was  now  viceroy,  and  was  inexorable, 
ordering  Matamoros  to  be  shot.  We  cannot  censure 
the  fearful  retribution  taken  by  the  patriots,  who  imme- 
diately, in  retaliation  for  him  and  Don  Valentino  Bravo, 
ordered  all  their  prisoners  to  be  put  to  death. 

Morelos  sent  Don  Manuel  Mier  y  Teran  to  take  com- 
mand in  La  Puebla,  and  Victoria  to  the  district  of  Vera 
Cruz.  This  was  a  dark  period  to  the  patriots ;  and  after 
suffering  several  defeats,  losing  Miguel  Bravo,  who  was 
executed,  Galeano,  who  died  in  battle,  and  being  unable 
to  protect  the  Congress,  which  was  driven  from  Chil- 
panzingo  to  the  woods  of  Aputzingan,  where,  however, 
it  continued  its  labors  and  put  forth  the  constitution  of 
1814;  Morelos  was  induced  to  undertake  the  expedition 
to  Tehuacan,  in  Puebla,  where  Teran  had  collected 
a  body  of  five  hundred  men.  On  this  expedition 
Morelos  had  but  five  hundred  men,  and  had  to  march 


THE    REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  55 

sixt}'  leagues  across  a  country  in  possession  of  the  loy- 
alists. Couriers  he  had  sent  to  Guerrero  and  Teran 
were  intercepted,  so  that  these  generals  could  not  learn  his 
position;  and  the  royalists  having  ascertained  how  feeble 
he  was,  attacked  him  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  in  a 
mountainous  road.  An  admirable  writer  thus  describes 
what  follows  of  his  history : 

"  He  immediately  ordered  Don  Nicolas  Bravo  to  con- 
tinue his  march  with  the  main  body,  as  an  escort  to 
the  congress,  while  he  himself  with  a  few  men  endeavored 
to  check  the  adv^ance  of  the  Spaniards. 

"  <  My  life,'  he  said,  <  is  of  little  consequence,  pro- 
vided the  congress  be  saved.  My  race  was  run  from 
Ihe  moment  that  I  saw  an  independent  government 
established.' 

"  His  orders  were  obeyed,  and  Morelos  remained  with 
about  fifty  men,  most  of  whom  abandoned  him  when  the 
firing  became  hot.  He  succeeded,  however,  in  gaining 
time,  which  was  his  great  object,  nor  did  the  royalists 
venture  to  advance  upon  him,  until  only  one  man  was 
left  by  his  side.  He  was  then  taken  prisoner,  though  he 
had  sought  death  in  vain  during  the  action.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  his  late  reverses  had  inspired  him  with 
a  disgust  for  life,  and  that  he  wished  to  end  his  days  by 
a  proof  of  devotion  to  his  country  worthy  the  most 
brilliant  part  of  his  former  career. 

"  Morelos  was  treated  with  the  greatest  brutality  by 
the  Spanish  soldiers  into  whose  hands  he  first  fell. 
They  stripped  him,  and  conducted  him,  loaded  with 
chains,  to  Tesmalaca.  But  Concha  (to  his  honor  be  it 
said),  on  his  prisoner  being  presented  to  him,  received 
him  with  the  respect  due  to  a  fallen  enemy,  and  treated 
him  with  unwonted  humanity  and  attention.  He  was 
transferred,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  to  the  capi- 


56  MEXICO   AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

tal,  and  the  whole  population  of  Mexico  flocked  out  to 
San  Agustin  de  las  Cuevas,  to  see  (and  some  to  insult) 
the  man,  whose  name  had  so  long  been  their  terror. 
But  Morelos,  both  on  his  way  to  prison,  and  while  in 
confinement,  is  said  to  have  shown  a  coolness  which  he 
preserved  to  the  last.  Indeed,  the  only  thing  that 
seemed  to  affect  him  at  all  was  his  degradation  ;  a  cere- 
mony humiliating  in  itself,  but  rendered  doubly  so,  in 
his  case,  by  the  publicity  which  was  given  to  it.  His 
examination  was  conducted  by  the  Oidor  Bataller 
(whose  insolent  assertion  of  the  natural  superiority  of  the 
Spaniards  to  the  Creoles,  is  said  to  have  roused  Morelos 
into  action),  and  was  not  of  long  duration.  On  the 
22d  of  December,  1815,  Concha  was  charged  to 
remove  him  from  the  prisons  of  the  Inquisition  to  the 
hospital  of  San  Christoval,  behind  which,  the  sentence 
pronounced  against  him  was  to  be  carried  into  execu' 
tion.  On  arriving  there,  he  dined  in  company  with 
Concha,  whom  he  afterwards  embraced,  and  thanked 
for  his  kindness.  He  then  confessed  himself,  and 
walked,  with  the  most  perfect  serenity-,  to  the  place  of 
execution.  The  short  prayer  which  he  pronounced 
there,  deserves  to  be  recorded  for  its  affecting  simpli- 
city. «  Lord,  if  I  have  done  well,  thou  knowest  it ;  if 
ill,  to  thy  infinite  mercy  I  commend  my  soul !' 

"  After  this  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Judge,  he  fastened 
with  his  own  hands  a  handkerchief  about  his  eyes,  gave 
the  signal  to  the  soldiers  to  fire,  and  met  death  with  as 
much  composure  as  he  had  ever  shown  when  facing  it 
on  the  field  of  battle." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

REVOLUTION— FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  MORELOS, 
DECEMBER  22d,  1815,  TO  1820. 

Dissolution  of  the  Mexican  congress — New  Spanish  constitu- 
tion— Battles  in  Texas — Teran — Rayon — Nicolas  Bravo — 
Guadalupe  Victoria — Mina — Gloomy  aspect  of  the  revolu- 
tionary cause. 

The  heroic  days  of  the  revolution  thus  terminated, 
and  with  Morelos  apparently  died  all  union,  no 
one  else  seeming  to  have  the  power  to  induce  the  insur- 
gent chiefs  to  act  in  concert.  Each  province  considered 
itself  independent ;  and  in  consequence  of  this  fatal  dis- 
union, though  supported  in  many  parts  of  the  country 
by  great  military  ability,  the  cause  of  liberty  decidedly 
lost  ground.  Morelos  always  intended  the  congress  to 
be  a  source  of  union,  to  which  his  lieutenants  might  look, 
as  to  himself,  in  case  of  accident;  but  few  of  his  officers 
recognised  its  authority  as  fully  as  he  had  done.  On  the 
22d  of  October,  1814,  the  congress  was  driven  by  Itur- 
bide  from  Apatzingan  to  Michoacan,  whence  Bravo  es- 
corted it  to  Tehuacan ;  there  some  difficulties  having 
arisen  between  the  military  and  civil  authorities,  Teran, 
on  the  15th  of  December,  1815,  forcibly  dissolved  it. 
This  act  has  been  severely  reprobated,  but  has  been 
perhaps  misunderstood.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
the  congress  was  valuable  as  a  point  of  union,  but  it  is 
also  true  that  the  demands  of  this  body  would  have 
ruined  the  district  he  commanded.  Among  other  things, 
the  congress  appropriated  eight  thousand  dollars  a  year 
for  each  of  its  members,  and  took  the  management  of 


58  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

the  funds  from  the  militar)-  commandant  to  yield  it  to 
one  of  its  own  officers  ;  which  made  Teran,  whose  ser- 
vices had  been  great,  a  mere  dependant.  The  remoter 
chiefs  having  refused  to  contribute  to  this  body,  Teran 
was  in  self-defence  forced  to  dissolve  it.  The  effects 
of  the  dissolution  of  this  only  central  government  Mexi- 
co had  yet  had  were  most  disastrous,  and  resulted  in  the 
crushing,  in  succession,  of  Victoria,  Rayon,  Bravo, 
Guerrero,  and  Teran,  each  of  whom  was  unable  to  call 
on  the  other  for  aid.  A  multitude  of  minor  chiefs 
shared  the  same  fate ;  and  the  arrival  of  fresh  troops 
from  the  peninsula  enabled  the  viceroy  to  keep  open  a 
communication  through  the  whole  country,  and  almost 
to  restore  Spanish  authority.  To  effecting  this  consum- 
mation, not  the  least  important  adjunct  was  the  pubhca- 
tion  of  the  indulto  or  pardon  to  all  who  would  lay  down 
their  arms,  which  the  viceroy  Apodaca  ( Villeja  having 
gone  to  Spain )  was  authorized  to  make,  and  which  re- 
duced to  an  inconsiderable  number  the  insurgents  who 
yet  kept  the  field. 

These  reverses  were,  however,  fully  compensated 
for  by  the  effect  produced  by  the  introduction  into 
Mexico  of  the  Spanish  constitution  sanctioned  by  the 
cortes  of  Cadiz,  in  which  sat  representatives  from 
America  to  the  number  of  fifty,  while  from  all  the  rest 
of  the  empire  there  were  but  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
members,  on  the  29th  of  March,  1812.  Some  account 
of  this  constitution  is  necessary-  to  the  correct  intelli- 
gence of  the  subsequent  history  of  the  Mexican  war  of 
independence. 

By  its  provisions  the  Spanish  nation  was  declared  to 
consist  of  all  Spaniards  in  either  hemisphere.  Spaniards 
were  all  free  men,  born  and  residing  in  the  Spanish 
dominions,  and  others  to  whom   the   same  privileges 


THE  REVOLUTION — CONTINUED.         59 

might  be  granted.  Spanish  citizens,  who  alone  could 
vote,  be  elected,  or  be  appointed  to  civil  trusts  and 
offices,  were  all  Spaniards  except  those  who  were,  by 
either  parent,  of  African  descent ;  the  latter  might,  how- 
ever, be  admitted  to  those  privileges  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances. The  government  was  to  be  an  hereditary 
monarchy,  Ferdinand  VII.  being  recognised  as  the 
king ;  the  powers  of  the  state,  however,  were  divided 
into  three  branches — the  legislative,  the  executive,  and 
the  judicial — the  attributes  of  each  of  which  were  dis- 
tinctly defined.  The  legislative  power  was  to  be  exer- 
cised by  a  single  body  of  deputies,  chosen  indirectly  for 
two  years,  by  the  citizens,  the  king  possessing  only  a 
limited  right  of  veto  upon  its  enactments  ;  the  executive 
duties  were  committed  to  the  king,  who  was  aided  by 
a  council  of  state,  and  acted  through  nine  responsible 
ministers ;  to  the  audiencias  or  courts  alone  belonged 
the  application  of  the  laws  in  civil  and  criminal  cases. 
The  territories  of  the  empire  were  to  be  divided  into 
provinces,  all  of  which  were  to  be  governed  in  the  same 
manner  by  a  chief,  whom  the  king  would  appoint,  and 
a  provincial  deputation  composed  of  members  chosen 
biennially  by  the  citizens  ;  the  basis  of  the  national  repre- 
sentation was  to  be  the  same  in  every  part  of  the 
dominions,  the  number  of  deputies  sent  by  each  pro- 
vince being  proportioned  to  the  number  of  Spanish  citi- 
zens inhabiting  it.  The  council  of  the  Indies,  which 
had  disappeared  in  the  course  of  the  great  political  tem- 
pest, was  replaced  by  a  minister  of  the  Icingdom  beyond 
sea  ;  the  press  was  freed  from  all  restrictions,  and  from 
all  responsibility,  except  such  as  might  be  imposed  on 
it  by  the  laws.  In  fine,  throughout  the  whole  Spanish 
empire,  the  same  forms  of  administration  were  esta- 
blished, and  the  same  civil  rights  were  recognised,  no 


60  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CH.EFTAIXS. 

privilege  or  disability  being  founded  on  birth-place  or 
descent,  except  with  regard  to  persons  of  African  origin. 
The  central  government  was  empowered  to  delay  the 
extension  of  the  privileges  in  those  parts  of  the  dominions 
to  which  it  should  not  be  considered  judicious  to  apply 
them  immediately. 

The  constitution  was  made  known  in  some  parts  of 
America  before,  and  in  others  after,  the  arrival  of  the 
forces  sent  from  Spain  to  reduce  them  to  submission. 
Neither  the  arrow  nor  the  olive  branch  proved  effectual 
for  that  purpose  ;  resistance  was  opposed  to  the  former 
wherever  it  was  practicable ;  the  latter  was  generally 
rejected  with  scorn,  and  when  accepted  was  only  used 
as  a  means  of  offence  against  those  who  offered  it.  Long 
experience  of  the  falsehood  and  injustice  of  the  Spanish 
government  had  rendered  the  Americans  suspicious  with 
regard  to  its  concessions ;  no  confidence  was  placed  in 
the  sincerity  of  the  cortes,  in  holding  out  these  liberal 
terms,  or  in  the  power  of  that  body  to  maintain  the  new 
institutions.  Distrust  was  felt,  if  not  expressed,  by  every 
thinking  individual,  and  the  patriots  absolutely  disre- 
garded it  in  America.  It  had  been  published  there 
under  the  viceroyalty  of  Vanegas,  who  soon  saw^  he 
could  not  maintain  his  authority  in  the  face  of  this  con- 
stitution, and  therefore,  after  two  months,  began  to  sus- 
pend provision  after  provision,  till  but  its  inanimate 
skeleton  remained.  It  was,  however,  a  concession  which 
could  not  be  revoked,  and  made  the  after  revolution 
more  popular  and  universal.  The  people  had  been  deter- 
mined to  make  use  of  their  new  privileges,  and  made 
this  virtual  revocation  necessary. 

We  have  previously  neglected  to  mention  that  from 
time  to  time,  in  the  northern  provinces  of  Mexico,  several 
attempts  were  made  by  persons  coming  from  the  United 


THE  REVOLUTION — CONTINUED.         61 

States,  either  to  co-operate  with  the  insurgents,  or  to 
establish  a  new  republic.  During  the  year  1812  and 
1813,  several  bloody  battles  were  fought  between  the 
invaders  and  the  royal  forces  in  the  province  of  Texas ; 
the  latter  were  ultimately  successful,  but  the  islands  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  coasts  became  places  of  refuge  and 
rendezvous  for  pirates,  professing  to  act  against  Spain 
under  commissions  from  various  independent  govern- 
ments in  America. 

It  is  impossible  to  follow  in  detail  the  events  of  this 
period,  but  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  some  sketch  of 
the  military  events,  and  of  the  leaders  who  intervene 
between  this  period  and  the  rise  of  Iturbide. 

Teran,  the  first  who  presents  himself  to  us  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  congress  on  the  22d  of  December,  1815, 
was  engaged  for  some  months  in  an  adventurous  strife, 
in  which  he  w^as  generally  successful,  though  his  efforts 
were  cramped  for  want  of  arms ;  to  obtain  w^hich,  he 
made  an  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  Guasa- 
coalco,  where  he  was  to  be  met  by  a  vessel  from  the 
United  States.  To  accomplish  this,  he  had  an  escort 
of  but  three  hundred  men,  having  left  the  rest  of  his 
troops  at  a  powder  manufactory  he  had  established  at 
Cerro  Colorado.  Being  overtaken  by  the  rainy  season, 
he  made  in  ten  days  a  road  across  the  marsh  leading  to 
Amistar,  which  yet  exists,  and  is  acknowledged  to  be  a 
most  wonderful  work.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Plaza 
Vicente,  the  depot  of  the  Vera  Cruz  traders,  and 
defeated  a  force  of  eleven  hundred  royalists,  commanded 
by  Topete,  which  attacked  him  on  the  10th  of  Septem- 
ber. His  plan  for  seizing  Guasacoalco  having  been  dis- 
covered, he  returned  to  Tehuacan,  where  he  was  forced 
to  surrender,  January  21st,  1817,  to  four  thousand 
troops,  detached  by  the  viceroy  against  him,  and  com- 


62  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

manded  by  Col.  Bracho,  who  besieged  him  at  Colorado. 
He  then  lived  in  obscurity  until  the  revolution  of  1821 
at  La  Puebla,  his  life  having  been  secured  by  the  terms 
of  his  capitulation.  He  has  been  minister  of  war  and 
plenipotentiary  to  England  in  1825.  He  had  the  repu- 
tation always  of  being  a  good  officer,  and  commanded 
probably  the  best  brigade  in  the  patriot  service.  He 
has  never  recovered  from  the  prejudice  excited  against 
him  for  his  suppression  of  the  congress,  and  therefore 
has  not  held  office  as  often  as  his  high  talents  would  have 
entitled  him  to.  He  was  but  a  short  time  since  alive, 
and  if  now  living,  can  be  but  little  over  fifty. 

Rayon  had  a  far  shorter  career,  and  probably  of  all 
the  men  in  the  service  was  the  most  accomplished.  He 
has  been  pointed  out  by  those  who  knew  him  as  an 
example  of  Cervantes'  proverb,  that  the  lance  never 
dulled  the  pen  or  the  pen  the  lance.  He  was  one  of 
Morelos's  lieutenants,  and  exercised  an  independent 
command  in  the  mountains  of  Valladolid,  where  he  took 
advantage  of  the  natural  difficuhies  of  the  country  and 
of  the  devotion  of  the  natives  to  him.  His  principal 
strong  hold  was  the  Cerro  de  Corporo,  in  which  he  was 
besieged  by  Llano  and  Iturbide  in  January  1815,  whom 
he  beat  off  on  the  4th  of  March.  Corporo  was  after- 
wards besieged  by  Aguierre  in  Rayon's. absence,  and 
was  surrendered  January  2d,  1817.  Don  Ignacio 
Rayon  was  subsequently  deserted  by  his  followers  and 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Armijo,  and  was  imprisoned  in  the 
capital  till  1821.  He  was  in  1828  a  general,  and  occu- 
pied a  high  position  in  the  esteem  of  the  people.  Amid 
the  turmoils  of  the  later  revolutions  he  has  disappeared 
from  history. 

Nicolas  Bravo  was  one  of  a  family  of  patriots  with 
whom  the  reader  is  now  familiar.     After  the  dissolution 


THE  REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  63 

of  the  congress,  he  wandered  at  the  head  of  his  com* 
mand  over  Mexico,  without  being  able  to  make  head 
against  any  of  his  pursuers.  When  Mina  landed  (of 
whom  more  anon),  he  sought  to  fortify  Corporo,  but  was 
driven  from  it  by  a  royalist  force,  and  afterwards  taken 
by  Armijojin  December,  1817,  and  confined  in  the  capi- 
tal till  1821.  After  aiding  Iturbide  to  establish  inde- 
pendence, he  declared  against  him  when  he  dissolved 
the  congress,  and  contributed  greatly  to  his  deposition. 
He  ultimately  became  the  first  vice-president  of  the  re- 
public, when  Guadalupe  Victoria  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  nation. 

No  one  of  the  insurgent  chiefs  were  pursued  with 
such  inveteracy,  by  the  royal  troops,  as  this  general, 
whose  position,  in  the  province  of  Vera  Cruz,  was 
a  constant  source  of  uneasiness  to  the  viceroy.  From 
the  moment  that  he  was  deputed  by  Morelos  to  take  the 
eastern  line  of  coast,  (1814,)  he  succeeded  in  cutting 
oflf  almost  all  communication  between  the  capital  and 
the  only  port  through  which  intercourse  with  Europe 
was,  at  that  time,  carried  on.  This  he  effected  at  the 
head  of  a  force  which  seldom  exceeded  two  thousand 
men ;  but  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  country, 
(which  is  extremely  mountainous  and  intricate),  and  an 
unlimited  influence  over  the  minds  of  his  followers, 
made  up  for  all  deficiencies  in  point  of  numbers,  and 
rendered  Victoria,  very  shortly,  the  terror  of  the  Spanish 
forces. 

It  was  his  practice  to  keep  but  a  small  body  of 
men  about  his  person,  and  only  to  collect  his  force  upon 
great  occasions :  a  mode  of  warfare  well  suited  to  the 
wild  habits  of  the  natives,  and,  at  the  same  time,  calcu- 
lated to  baffle  pursuit.  The  instant  a  blow  was  struck, 
a  general  dispersion  followed :  in  the  event  of  a  failure, 


64  MEXICO    AND   HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

a  rendezvous  was  fixed  for  some  distant  point ;  and  thus 
losses  were  often  repaired,  before  it  was  known  in  the 
capital  that  they  had  been  sustained  at  all. 

Nor  were  Victoria's  exploits  confined  to  this  desul- 
tory warfare  :  in  1815  he  detained  a  convoy  of  six  thou- 
sand mules,  escorted  by  two  thousand  men,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Aguila,  at  Puente  del  Rey,  (a  pass, 
the  natural  strength  of  which  the  insurgents  had  in- 
creased by  placing  artillery  upon  the  heights,  by  which 
it  is  commanded),  nor  did  it  reach  Vera  Cruz  for  up- 
ward of  six  months.  The  necessity  of  keeping  the 
channel  of  communication  with  Europe  open,  induced 
Calleja,  in  December  1815,  to  intrust  the  chief  command, 
both  civil  and  military,  of  the  province  of  Vera  Cruz, 
lo  Don  Fernando  Miyares,  (an  officer  of  high  rank  and 
distinguished  attainments,  recently  arrived  from  Spain), 
for  the  special  purpose  of  establishing  a  chain  of  fortified 
posts,  on  the  whole  ascent  to  the  table-land,  sufficiently 
strong  to  curb  Victoria's  incursions.  The  execution  of 
this  plan  was  preceded,  and  accompanied,  by  a  series 
of  actions  between  the  insurgents  and  royalists,  in  the 
course  of  which  Miyares  gradually  drove  Victoria  from 
his  strong-holds  at  Puente  del  Rey  and  Puente  de  San 
Juan,  (September  1815) ;  and  although  the  latter  main- 
tained the  unequal  struggle  for  upwards  of  two  years,  he 
never  was  able  to  obtain  any  decisive  advantage  over 
the  reinforcements,  which  the  government  was  continu- 
ally sending  to  the  seat  of  war.  Two  thousand  Euro- 
pean troops  landed  with  Miyares,  and  one  thousand  more 
with  Apodaca,  (in  1816);  and  notwithstanding  the  des- 
perate efforts  of  Victoria's  men,  their  courage  was  of  no 
avail  against  the  superior  discipline  and  arms  of  their 
adversaries.  In  the  course  of  the  year  1816,  most  of 
his  old  soldiers  fell :  those  by  whom  he  replaced  them 


iii'i'll;r^'^:iii  i 


THE    REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  65 

had  neither  the  same  enthusiasm,  nor  the  same  attach- 
ment to  his  person.  The  zeal  with  which  the  inhabitants 
had  engaged  in  the  cause  of  the  revolution,  was  worn 
out :  with  each  reverse  their  discouragement  increased^ 
and,  as  the  disastrous  accounts  from  the  interior  left 
them  but  little  hope  of  bringing  the  contest  to  a  favora- 
ble issue,  the  villages  refused  to  furnish  any  farther  sup- 
plies ;  the  last  remnant  of  Victoria's  followers  deserted 
him,  and  he  was  left  absolutely  alone.  Still  his  courage 
was  unsubdued,  and  his  resolution  not  to  yield,  on  any 
terms,  to  the  Spaniards,  unshaken.  He  refused  the 
rank  and  rewards  which  Apodaca  proffered  as  the  price 
of  his  submission,  and  determined  to  seek  an  asylum  in 
the  solitudes  of  the  forests,  rather  than  accept  the  in- 
duUoy  on  the  faith  of  which  so  many  of  the  insurgents 
yielded  up  their  arms.  This  extraordinary  project  was 
carried  into  execution  with  a  decision  highly  character- 
istic of  the  man.  Unaccompanied  by  a  single  attendant, 
and  provided  only  with  a  little  linen,  and  a  sword,  Vic- 
toria threw  himself  into  the  mountainous  district  which 
occupies  so  large  a  portion  of  the  province  of  Vera  Cruz, 
and  disappeared  to  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen.  His 
after-history  is  so  extremely  wild,  that  I  should  hardly 
venture  to  relate  it  here,  did  not  the  unanimous  evi- 
dence of  his  countrymen  confirm  the  story  of  his  suffer- 
ings, as  I  have  often  heard  it  from  his  own  mouth. 

During  the  first  few  weeks,  Victoria  was  supplied 
with  provisions  by  the  Indians,  who  all  knew  and 
respected  his  name  ;  but  Apodaca  was  so  apprehensive 
that  he  would  again  emerge  from  his  retreat,  that  a 
thousand  men  were  ordered  out,  in  small  detachments, 
literally  to  hunt  him  down.  Wherever  it  was  discov- 
ered that  a  village  had  either  received  him,  or  relieved 
hi.:  wants,  it  was  burnt  without  mercy ;  and  this  rigor 
5 


66  MEXICO    AKD    HER    iMlLITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Struck  the  Indians  with  such  terror,  that  they  either  fled 
at  the  sight  of  Victoria,  or  were  the  first  to  denounce 
the  approach  of  a  man,  whose  presence  might  prove  so 
fatal  to  them.  For  upwards  of  six  months,  he  was  fol- 
lowed like  a  wild  beast  by  his  pursuers,  who  were  often 
so  near  him,  that  he  could  hear  their  imprecations 
against  himself,  and  Apodaca  too,  for  having  con- 
demned them  to  so  fruitless  a  search.  On  one  occasion 
he  escaped  a  detachment,  which  he  fell  in  with  unex- 
pectedly, by  swimming  a  river,  which  they  were  unable 
to  cross  ;  and  on  several  others,  he  concealed  himself, 
when  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  royal  troops, 
beneath  the  thick  shrubs  and  creepers  with  which  the 
woods  of  Vera  Cruz  abound.  At  last  a  stor)-  was  made 
up,  to  satisfy  the  viceroy,  of  a  body  having  been  found, 
which  had  been  recognised  as  that  of  Victoria.  A 
minute  description  was  given  of  his  person,  which  was 
inserted  officially  in  the  Gazette  of  Mexico,  and  the 
troops  were  recalled  to  more  pressing  labors  in  the 
interior. 

But  Victoria's  trials  did  not  cease  with  the  pursuit : 
harassed  and  worn  out  by  the  fatigues  which  he  had 
undergone,  his  clothes  torn  to  pieces,  and  his  body  lace- 
rated by  the  thorny  underwood  of  the  tropics,  he  was 
indeed  allowed  a  little  tranquillity,  but  his  sufferings 
were  still  almost  incredible :  during  the  summer  he 
managed  to  subsist  upon  the  fruits  of  which  nature  is  so 
lavish  in  those  climates  ;  but  in  winter  he  was  attenuated 
by  hunger,  and  he  has  been  repeatedly  heard  to  affirm, 
that  no  repast  has  affi:)rded  him  so  much  pleasure  since,  as 
he  experienced,  after  being  long  deprived  of  food,  in 
gnawing  the  bones  of  horses,  or  other  animals,  that  he 
happened  to  find  dead  in  the  woods.  By  degrees  he 
accustomed  himself  to  such  abstinence,  that  he  could 


THE  REVOLUTION — CONTINUED.  67 

remain  four,  and  even  five  days,  without  taking  any 
thing  but  water,  without  experiencing  any  serious  in- 
convenience ;  but  whenever  he  was  deprived  of  suste- 
nance for  a  longer  period,  his  sufferings  were  very  acute. 
For  thirty  months  he  never  tasted  bread,  nor  saw  a  hu- 
man being,  nor  thought,  at  times,  ever  to  see  one  again. 
His  clothes  were  reduced  to  a  single  wrapper  of  cotton, 
which  he  found  one  day,  when  driven  by  hunger  he  had 
approached  nearer  than  usual  to  some  Indian  huts,  and 
this  he  regarded  as  an  inestimable  treasure. 

The  mode  in  which  Victoria,  cut  off,  as  he  was,  from 
all  communication  with  the  world,  received  intelligence 
of  the  revolution  of  1821,  is  hardly  less  extraordinary 
than  the  fact  of  his  having  been  able  to  support  existence 
amidst  so  many  hardships,  during  the  intervening  period. 

When,  in  1818,  he  was  abandoned  by  all  the  rest  of 
his  men,  he  was  asked  by  two  Indians,  who  lingered  with 
him  to  the  last,  and  on  whose  fidelity  he  knew  that  he 
could  rely,  if  any  change  took  place,  where  he  wished  them 
to  look  for  him  ?  He  pointed,  in  reply,  to  a  mountain 
at  some  distance,  and  told  them  that,  on  that  mountain, 
perhaps,  they  might  find  his  bones.  His  only  reason 
for  selecting  it,  was  its  being  particularly  rugged,  and 
inaccessible,  and  surrounded  by  forests  of  a  vast  extent. 

The  Indians  treasured  up  this  hint,  and  as  soon  as 
the  first  news  of  Iturbide's  declaration  reached  them, 
they  set  out  in  quest  of  Victoria.  They  separated  on 
arriving  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  employed  six 
whole  wrecks  in  examining  the  woods  with  which  it  was 
covered ;  during  this  time,  they  lived  principally  by  the 
chase ;  but  finding  their  stock  of  maize  exhausted,  and 
all  their  efforts  unavailing,  they  w^re  about  to  give  up 
the  attempt,  when  one  of  them  discovered,  in  crossing 
a  ravine,  which  Victoria  occasionally  frequented,  the 


68  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

print  of  a  foot,  which  he  immediately  recognised  to  be 
that  of  a  European.  By  European,  is  meant  of  Euro- 
pean descent,  and  consequently  accustomed  to  wear 
shoes,  which  always  give  a  difference  of  shape  to  the 
foot,  very  perceptible  to  the  eye  of  a  native.  The  Indian 
wailed  two  days  upon  the  spot ;  but  seeing  nothing 
of  Victoria,  and  finding  his  supply  of  provisions  quite 
at  an  end,  he  suspended  upon  a  tree,  near  the  place, 
four  tortillas,  or  little  maize  cakes,  which  were  all  he 
had  left,  and  set  out  for  his  village,  in  order  to  replenish 
his  wallets,  hoping  that  if  Victoria  should  pass  in  the 
mean  time,  the  tortillas  would  attract  his  attention,  and 
convince  hira  that  some  friend  was  in  search  of  him. 

His  little  plan  succeeded  completely:  Victoria,  on 
crossing  the  ravine,  two  days  afterwards,  perceived 
the  maize  cakes,  which  the  birds  had  fortunately  not 
devoured.  He  had  then  been  four  whole  days  without 
eating,  and  upwards  of  two  years  without  tasting  bread ; 
and,  he  says  himself,  that  he  devoured  the  tortillas  be- 
fore the  cravings  of  his  appetite  would  allow  him  to 
reflect  upon  the  singularity  of  finding  them  on  this  soli- 
tar)'  spot,  where  he  had  never  before  seen  any  trace  of 
a  human  being.  He  was  at  a  loss  to  determine  whether 
they  had  been  left  there  by  friend  or  foe ;  but  feeling 
sure  that  whoever  left  them  intended  to  return,  he  con- 
cealed himself  near  the  place,  in  order  to  observe  his 
motions,  and  to  take  his  own  measures  accordingly. 

Within  a  short  time  the  Indian  returned,  and  Victo- 
ria, who  recognised  him,  abruptly  started  from  his  con- 
cealment, to  welcome  his  faithful  follower;  but  the 
man,  terrified  at  seeing  a  phantom  covered  with  hair, 
emaciated,  and  clothed  only  with  on  old  cotton  wrap- 
her,  advancing  upon  him  with  a  sword  in  his  hand, 
from  amongst  the  bushes,  took  to  flight ;   and  it  was 


THE  REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  69 

only  on  hearing  himself  repeatedly  called  by  his  name, 
that  he  recovered  his  composure  sufficiently  to  recog- 
nise his  old  general.  He  was  affected  beyond  measure 
at  the  state  in  which  he  found  him,  and  conducted  him 
instantly  to  the  village,  where  Victoria  was  received  with 
the  greatest  enthusiasm.  The  report  of  his  reappearance 
spread,  like  lightning,  through  the  province,  where  it  was 
not  credited  at  first,  so  firmly  was  every  one  convinced  of 
his  death;  but  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  Guada- 
lupe Victoria  was  indeed  in  existence,  all  the  old  insur- 
gents rallied  around  him.  In  an  incredibly  short  time, 
he  induced  the  whole  province,  with  the  exception  of 
the  fortified  towns,  to  declare  for  independence,  and 
then  set  out  to  join  Iturbide,  who  was,  at  that  time, 
preparing  for  the  siege  of  Mexico.  He  was  received 
with  great  apparent  cordiality ;  but  his  independent 
spirit  was  too  little  in  unison  with  Iturbide's  projects, 
for  this  good  understanding  to  continue  long.  Victoria 
had  fought  for  a  liberal  form  of  government,  and  not 
merely  for  a  change  of  masters  ;  and  Iturbide,  unable  to 
gain  him  over,  drove  him  again  into  the  woods  during 
his  short-lived  reign,  from  whence  ne  only  returned  to 
give  the  signal  for  a  general  rising  against  the  too  ambi- 
tious emperor. 

The  history  of  the  revolution  now  becomes  identified 
with  the  life  of  Xavier  Mina,  who,  while  all  in  Spain 
thought  the  royal  cause  prospering,  nearly  ruined  it. 
Among  those  who  had  been  obliged  to  fly  from  Spain 
afler  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution  by  Ferdinand,  in 
1814,  was  Xavier  Mina,  a  relation  of  the  w^ell  known 
general  of  the  same  name.  Burning  with  indignation 
and  a  desire  of  revenge,  not  only  against  the  monarch 
who  had,  as  he  conceived,  acted  thus  unworthily,  but 
also,  in  fact,  against  the  nation,  which  had  so  joyfully 


tO  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

seconded  the  shameful  deed,  this  young  man  came  to 
the  United  States,  where  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
means  of  fitting  out  a  small  expedition.  With  this  force 
he  sailed  from  the  Chesapeake  on  the  1st  of  September, 
1816 ;  and,  after  various  delays  at  Port  au  Prince,  Gal- 
veston, and  other  places,  where  he  made  small  additions 
to  his  troops  and  equipments,  he  landed  on  the  15th  of 
April  following,  with  three  hundred  men  of  all  nations, 
near  Soto  la  Marina,  a  small  place  on  the  western  shore 
of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Santander, 
and  about  eighty  miles  south  of  the  entrance  of  the  Rio 
del  Norte.  At  this  time,  the  fortunes  of  the  independ- 
ents in  Mexico  were  in  the  ebb.  The  congress  had 
published  a  republican  constitution  on  the  22d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1814  ;  but  all  the  advantages  which  were  anticipa- 
ted from  this  act,  as  a  means  of  promoting  union  and 
subordination  among  the  partisans  of  the  cause,  were 
lost  before  the  end  of  the  following  year,  by  the  seizure 
and  subsequent  execution  of  Morelos.  While  this  devo- 
ted and  energetic  leader  was  in  command,  obedience 
was  paid  by  all  the  insurgents  to  the  orders  of  the  con- 
gress ;  after  his  capture,  however,  this  body  was  regarded 
rather  as  an  incumbrance  than  otherwise,  and  was  at 
length  forcibly  dissolved,  or  rather  dispersed,  by  Don 
Manuel  de  Mier  y  Teran,  a  young  chief  to  w^hose  charge 
its  defence  had  been  committed.  The  insurgent  leaders 
then  partitioned  the  country  among  themselves,  and  each 
from  his  fort  or  fastness  kept  the  surrounding  district  in 
awe  and  trouble.  Guerrero  betook  himself  to  the 
Pacific  coast  near  Acapulco ;  Rayon  ruled  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Valladolid,  and  Guadalupe  Victoria  in  those 
of  Vera  Cruz  ;  Teran  established  himself  on  the  borders 
of  Oaxaca  and  Puebla;  the  barbarian.  Padre  Torres, 
with  his  band  ravaged  the  beautiful  region  called  the 


THE   REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  71 

Baxio  of  Guanaxuato,  while  Nicolas,  the  sole  survivor 
of  the  gallant  Bravo  family,  wandered  about  with  his 
followers.  The  arrival  of  troops  from  Spain,  after  the 
restoration  of  Ferdinand,  enabled  Calleja,  however,  to 
keep  up  his  chains  of  posts  throughout  the  countr}',  by 
means  of  which  the  insurgents  were  becoming  daily  more 
straitened,  and  their  communications  with  each  other 
were  rendered  more  difficult. 

In  181.6  Calleja  returned  to  Spain,  having  been 
replaced  as  viceroy  of  Mexico  by  Don  Ruiz  de  Apo- 
daca,  a  man  of  a  comparatively  mild  disposition,  who 
was  charged  to  offer  more  favorable  terms  to  the  insur- 
gents. As  his  character  was  well  known,  those  terms 
were  readily  accepted,  and  ere  he  had  been  in  power  a 
year,  many,  not  only  of  the  subordinates,  but  also  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  independents,  accepted  the  indulto,  or  act 
of  indemnity  proclaimed  by  him,  and  returned  to  the 
occupations  of  peaceful  hfe.  Among  the  chiefs  who 
thus  submitted,  were  Nicolas  Bravo,  Osourno,  and 
Rayon,  all  of  whom  remained  in  obscurity  until  1821  ; 
Victoria  about  the  same  time  disappeared,  and  was 
believed  to  be  dead,  and  the  only  leader  of  consequence 
among  the  insurgents  who,  in  1817,  remained  hi  com- 
mand, was  the  priest  Jose  Torres. 

The  viceroy  had  received  notice  from  Havana,  of 
the  approach  of  Mina's  expedition,  to  intercept  which, 
he  had  sent  out  several  ships  of  war ;  as  he,  however, 
could  not  learn  where  the  invaders  intended  to  land,  his 
other  preparations  for  defence  were  necessarily  of  a 
general  character.  From  these  circumstances,  Mina 
found  little  or  no  opposition  at  Soto  la  Marina,  and  hav- 
ing built  a  temporary  fort  near  that  place,  in  which  some 
men  were  left  as  a  garrison,  he  commenced  his  march 
into  the  interior  on  the  24th  of  May,  and  the  first  action 


72  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

with  the  royalist  forces  took  place  on  the  12th  of  June, 
at  PeotilloSj  about  forty  miles  from  the  city  of  San  Luis 
Potosi ;  in  this  Mina  was  successful,  and  before  the  end 
of  the  month  he  effected  a  juncture  with  the  redoubtable 
Father  Torres,  in  the  Baxio  of  Guanaxuato. 

We  cannot  particularize  the  events  of  the  short  but 
brilliant  career  of  Mina  in  Mexico  ;  brilliant  it  was,  from 
the  constant  display  of  boldness,  energy  and  courage, 
under  difficulties  which,  as  he  could  not  but  have  seen 
within  a  short  time  after  his  landing  in  Mexico,  were 
insup^erable.  The  number  of  his  followers  increased  but 
little ;  the  natives  who  joined  him  being  scarcely  more 
than  sufficient  to  supply  the  place  of  those  who  fell  in 
battle  or  from  fatigue ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  they 
fought  with  the  incumbrances  of  women  and  children ; 
to  crown  all,  Mina  soon  found  that  he  was  himself  the 
object  of  jealousy  and  hatred,  on  the  part  of  Father 
Torres.  Concert  of  action  was  thus  impossible ;  the 
foreigners  were  viewed  with  mistrust  and  dislike  by  the 
people  ;  and  except  when  their  protection  was  wanted, 
were  soon  left  to  provide  for  and  to  defend  themselves 
as  they  might.  Meanwhile  the  viceroy  was  unremitting 
in  his  exertions  to  destroy  them  ;  troops  were  gathering 
around  them  from  every  direction ;  escape  was  impos- 
sible, and  they  had  only  to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as 
they  could. 

The  fort  at  Soto  la  Marina  fell  first ;  garrisoned  by 
only  a  hundred  and  thirteen  men,  under  Major  Sarda, 
an  Italian,  it  was  attacked  by  General  Arredondo,  the 
commander  of  the  eastern  provinces,  with  no  less  than 
two  thousand  regular  soldiers.  The  garrison  held  out 
for  some  days,  until  at  length,  its  numbers  having  been 
reduced  to  thirty  seven,  the  fort  was  surrendered  by 
capitulation,  on  the  15th  of  June.     The  terms  of  the 


THE  REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  73 

capitulation  were  of  course  disregarded  ;  and  the  unfor- 
tunate foreigners  expiated  their  rashness  and  folly  by 
imprisonment  for  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  loath- 
some dungeons  at  Ulua,  Ceuta,  Cadiz,  and  other  places. 

The  Sombrero,  a  fort  in  Guanaxuato,  occupied  by  a 
body  of  Mina's  men,  under  Colonel  Young,  an  Ameri- 
can, was  also  invested  by  a  considerable  force  of  royal- 
ists, commanded  by  General  Lifian.  On  the  night  of 
the  19th  of  August,  the  able-bodied  soldiers  of  the  gar- 
rison, with  the  w^omen  and  children,  evacuated  the  place, 
leaving  the  sick  and  the  wounded  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  Spaniards.  Linan,  however,  having  learned  their 
intention,  set  upon  them  during  their  retreat,  and  killed 
the  greater  part ;  he  then  butchered  the  wounded  whom 
he  found  in  the  fort,  and  sent  the  prisoners,  some  to 
execution,  others  to  join  their  comrades  in  their  dun- 
geons. 

Mina  had  in  the  interval  so  far  gained  upon  the  feel- 
ings of  the  Mexicans,  that  he  had  assembled  nearly  a 
thousand  men  under  his  command.  With  these  he  at 
first  established  himself  in  another  fort  in  Baxio,  called 
Remedios,  when  he  was  joined  by  the  remnants  of  the 
garrison  of  Sombrero;  and  removing  thence,  he,  in  a 
short  space  of  time,  reduced  several  of  the  strongholds 
of  the  royalists.  At  length,  on  the  23d  day  of  October, 
he  ventured  to  attack  the  city  of  Guanaxuato  ;  having 
no  artillery,  his  attempt  proved  vain,  he  w^as  obliged  to 
retreat  and  immediately  found  himself  almost  deserted. 
On  the  27th,  while  reposing  in  a  farm-house  called  the 
Venadito,  he  was  betrayed,  surrounded,  and  made  pri- 
soner. 

The  news  of  Mina's  seizure  was  celebrated  by  public 
rejoicings  and  religious  thanksgivings  throughout  Mexico. 
He  was  of  course  ordered  to  be  instantly  executed,  and 


74  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

was  accordingly  shot  on  the  11th  of  November,  at  Te- 
peaca,  in  sight  of  the  fort  of  Remedies,  which  was  then 
besieged  by  the  Spaniards.  That  fort  soon  after  fell,  and 
before  the  year  1817,  not  more  than  tAventy  of  those  who 
had  landed  with  Mina  at  Soto  la  Marina  in  April,  were 
alive  and  not  in  dungeons.  In  reward  for  the  success 
of  his  efforts  in  effecting  the  overthrow  of  Mina,  Apo- 
daca  was  made  Count  of  Venadito. 

After  the  death  of  Morel os,  the  dismissal  of  the 
Mexican  congress  by  Teran,  and  the  complete  destruc- 
tion of  Mina  and  his  followers,  the  hopes  of  the  partisans 
of  independence  rapidly  sunk.  The  system  of  energy 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  conciliation  on  the  other,  pursued 
by  the  viceroy,  Apodaca,  daily  overthrew  or  disarmed 
the  enemies  of  the  Spanish  authority.  There  was  no 
longer  among  the  insurgents  any  directing  power,  to  which 
the  various  chiefs  would  bow  ;  each  was  absolute  over  his 
own  followers,  and  would  brook  no  interference  on  the 
part  of  another  leader  ;  and  combination  of  movements 
among  them  was  rendered  impossible  by  mutual  jeal- 
ousies and  mistrusts.  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
war  gradually  became  merely  a  series  of  contests 
between  the  legal  authorities  and  hordes  of  banditti,  and 
the  wealthy  and  intelligent  part  of  the  population  began 
to  look  to  the  standard  of  Spain  as  the  symbol  of  order, 
and  there  was  every  prospect  that  quiet  would  be 
gradually  restored.  The  pride  of  the  people  had  also 
been  flattered  by  the  employment  of  natives  in  offices 
of  trust,  profit,  and  honor ;  in  this  way  the  elevation  of 
Don  Antonio  Perez,  a  Mexican  priest,  of  great  talent, 
learning,  and  character,  to  the  high  ecclesiastical  dignity 
of  Bishop  of  Puebla,  had  great  effect  in  reconciling 
the  inferior  clerg}-,  hitherto  the  most  determined  oppo- 
nents of  European  domination.     The  Spanish  troops  in 


THE  REVOLUTION CONTINUED.  75 

Mexico  at  this  time  did  not  exceed  five  thousand  ;  there 
was,  however,  a  large  force  of  native  soldiers,  who  were 
all  well  disciplined,  and  to  secure  whose  fidelity  every 
means  consistent  with  prudence  was  employed  by  the 
government.  The  most  prominent  among  the  officers 
of  this  latter  force,  was  Augustin  Iturbide,  a  native  of 
Michoacan,  who  had  elevated  himself  to  the  rank  of 
colonel,  by  his  courage,  his  activity,  and  his  ferocity 
towards  the  insurgents ;  soon  after  the  arrival  of  Apo- 
daca,  however,  he  had  for  some  reasons  retired  from  the 
service,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  performance  of 
religious  acts,  in  which  his  scrupulous  perseverance  had 
caused  him  to  be  as  much  esteemed  by  the  people,  for 
the  supposed  sanctity  of  his  character,  as  he  had  been 
before  dreaded  on  account  of  its  manifest  ruthlessness. 
This  was  the  man,  whom  the  viceroy  selected  to  carry 
into  effect  his  scheme  for  maintaining  the  absolute 
authority  of  the  king  in  Mexico. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DON  AUGUSTINO  ITURBIDE. 

Rise  of  Iturbide — His  services  in  the  Spanish  cause — Plan  of 
Iguala — O'Donoju — Treaty  of  Cordova — Iturbide  proclaimed 
emperor — Abdicates — His  "Statement" — Returns  to  Mexico 
— Arrested  and  executed — RepubUcan  constitution  framed. 

This  person  was,  at  the  period  we  have  reached,  the 
leading  character  of  his  country.  When  the  revolution 
broke  out,  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  militia  of 
Valladolid,  of  which  province  he  was  a  native.  He 
was  very  handsome,  of  elegant  address,  and  with 
polished  manners,  as  well  as  bold  and  daring.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  to  look  into  the  nature  of  the 
quarrel  between  Mexico  and  the  mother  countr}^,  and 
to  adopt  the  cause  of  his  native  land.  How  this  con- 
nexion terminated  is  now  a  mystery,  two  stories  having 
been  told,  the  one  by  Iturbide,  that  he  was  disgusted 
with  their  projects  and  refused  to  participate  in  them,  in 
spite  of  the  great  offers  they  made  him  ;  and  the  other 
by  the  insurgents,  that  he  demanded  more  than  they 
thought  his  services  worth,  so  young  and  so  little 
known  as  he  was.  One  thing  is,  however,  sure,  the 
insurgents  committed  a  great  oversight,  as  Iturbide 
would  have  been  an  invaluable  acquisition  at  any  price. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  all  negotiations  were  broken  off,  and 
Iturbide  joined  the  troops  assembled  by  the  viceroy 
Vanegas  for  the  defence  of  Mexico  in  1810,  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  under  the  orders  of  Truxillo  at  Las 
Cruces.  From  that  moment  his  rise  was  rapid,  and  his 
knowledge   of  the   country  and   people   rendered   his 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE. 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  /  / 

services  invaluable  in  ever}-  expedition.  As  a  guerilla 
chieftain  his  services  were  important,  and  he  inflicted  on 
the  insurgents  two  of  the  most  important  blow^s  tliey 
sustained,  at  Valladolid  and  Puruaran  (where  Morelos's 
army  was  defeated  and  Matamoros  captured).  He 
never  failed  but  once,  which  was  in  the  attack  on  Corporo 
ia  1815  ;  when  he  was  foiled,  as  will  be  remembered,  by 
one  of  the  ablest  men  ^lexico  has  yet  produced.  He  was 
appointed  afterwards  to  a  separate  command  in  the 
Baxio,  a  rare  honor  for  a  Creole.  In  this  command  he 
sullied  his  high  reputation  by  wanton  cruelty ;  writing 
to  the  viceroy  after  a  battie  he  had  won  at  Salvatierra, 
he  says:  <'In  honor  of  the  day  (Good  Friday)  I 
have  just  ordered  three  hundred  excommunicados  to 
be  shot !"  Iturbide's  friends  deny  the  authenticity  of 
this  letter,  but  the  original  is  said  to  be  in  the  archives 
of  Mexico.  He,  however,  shared  this  reproach 
with  almost  all  who  were  engaged  in  that  war. 
He  was  afterwards  recalled  for  rapacity  and  extor- 
tion, to  Mexico,  where  he  remained  from  1816  to 
1820,  when  Apodaca  again  employed  him  as  the  fittest 
agent  to  overthrow  the  remnant  of  the  constitution,  and 
sent  him  to  the  western  coast,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of 
men,  with  the  assistance  of  whom  he  was  to  proclaim 
the  restoration  of  the  king's  absolute  authority.  During 
his  retirement,  Iturbide  had  devoted  himself  to  religious 
exercises,  and  extended  his  intercourse  among  the  clerg}-, 
by  whom  he  was  highly  esteemed,  and  through  whose 
influence  he  regained  much  of  the  popularity  he  had 
destroyed  by  his  cruelty. 

In  the  month  of  Februar}-,  1821,  Iturbide  left  the 
city  of  Mexico  to  take  the  command  of  a  large  native 
force,  ostensibly  with  a  view  to  act  against  the  insur- 
gents in  the  south,  who,  under  Guerrero,  were  again 


78  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

becoming  formidable ;  it  is,  however,  supposed  that  he 
was  really  charged  to  keep  in  check  the  Spanish  troops, 
who  were  principally  collected  in  that  quarter,  whilst  the 
viceroy  should  declare  the  re-establishment  of  the 
authority  of  the  absolute  sovereign  at  the  capital. 

Thus  far,  we  have  stated  what  appear  to  have  been 
the  facts ;  the  remainder  of  Iturbide's  proceedings  are 
well  known.  On  the  24th  of  February,  1821,  he 
assembled  the  chief  officers  of  his  army  at  Iguala,  and 
presented  them  a  set  of  propositions  for  the  institution 
of  a  national  government  in  Mexico,  which  are  termed 
in  the  history  of  that  country,  The  Plan  of  Igaala.  The 
amount  of  these  propositions  was : 

1 .  That  Mexico  should  form  an  independent  empire, 
the  crown  of  which  should  be  offered  to  the  king  of 
Spain,  and,  in  the  event  of  his  refusal,  to  the  other 
princes  of  his  family  in  succession,  on  condition  that  the 
person  accepting  should  reside  in  the  country,  and 
should  swear  to  observe  a  constitution  to  be  fixed  by  a 
congress ; 

2.  That  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  should  be  sup- 
ported, and  the  rights,  immunities,  and  property  of  its 
clergy  should  be  preserved  and  secured  ; 

3.  That  all  the  actual  inhabitants  of  Mexico,  what- 
ever might  be  their  birth-place  or  descent,  should  enjoy 
the  same  civil  rights. 

These  three  propositions  were  termed  The  three 
Guarantees^  and  an  army  was  to  be  raised  for  their 
establishment  and  defence.  This  plan  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  have  been  drawn  up  by  the  heads  of  the  reli- 
gious congregation  of  the  Profesa  in  Mexico,  under  the 
direction  of  the  bishop  of  Puebla,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  attached  friends  of  Iturbide  ;  the  latter,  however, 
always  insisted  that  he  himself  had  been  the  sole  deviser 


DON    AUGUSTIN    ITUKBIDE.  /i) 

of  it,  although  he  admits  that  it  was  shown  to  and  ap- 
proved by  the  other  persons  mentioned. 

The  proposed  arrangements  having  been  agreed  to 
by  the  officers,  were,  on  the  2d  of  March  following,  sub- 
mitted to  the  troops,  who  received  them  with  enthusiasm, 
and  immediately  assumed  the  name  and  colors  of  the 
Army  of  the  three  Guarantees.  Guerrero,  soon  after, 
added  his  forces  to  those  of  Iturbide,  and  they  also  re- 
ceived an  important  accession  in  the  person  of  Guada- 
lupe Victoria,  who  had  for  the  three  years  previous 
wandered  in  the  forests  of  Vera  Cruz  without  seeing  or 
being  seen  by  a  human  being.  The  news  of  the  revo- 
lution spread  rapidly  throughout  Mexico.  At  San  Luis 
Potosi,  Colonel  Anastasio  Bustamente,  (afterwards  presi- 
dent of  the  Mexican  republic),  with  his  whole  regiment, 
declared  in  favor  of  the  plan  of  Iguala  ;  the  province  of 
Vera  Cruz  was  in  insurrection,  and  the  city  was  be- 
sieged by  Don  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  then  a 
young  officer ;  Puebla,  Guanaxuato,  Queretaro,  Duran- 
go,  Valladolid,  and  all  the  principal  places  except  the 
capital,  were  soon  in  quiet  possession  of  the  indepen- 
dents. The  Mexicans,  indeed,  scrupled  a  little  at  first 
at  the  idea  of  receiving  a  Bourbon  prince ;  but  they  soon 
became  assured,  that  there  was  but  little  prospect  of  the 
execution  of  that  part  of  the  plan. 

The  viceroy,  it  is  believed,  was  at  first  inclined  to 
accede  to  the  plan  of  Iguala ;  certain  it  is,  that  he  took 
no  very  decided  measures  to  oppose  it,  and  he  was  on 
account  of  his  apathy  or  apparent  acquiescence  deposed 
on  the  6th  of  July,  by  the  Spanish  troops  at  the  capital, 
who  then  placed  General  Novella  at  the  head  of  the 
government.  Ere  the  opposing  parties  could  be  brought 
in  presence  of  each  other.  General  O'Donoju,  an  old 
and  highly  respected  officer,  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  from 


so  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Spain,  with  the  commission  of  captain-general  of  Mexi- 
co ;  and  seeing  at  once  that  all  efforts  to  arrest  the  revo- 
lution by  means  of  the  Spanish  forces  in  Mexico  would 
be  unavailing,  he  proposed  to  treat  with  Iturbide.  This 
proposition  was  accepted,  and  the  two  generals  met  at 
Cordova,  about  sixty  miles  from  Vera  Cruz,  on  the  24th 
of  August.  The  result  of  their  conference  was  a  treaty 
signed  on  the  day  of  their  meeting,  by  which  the  captain 
general  recognised  the  independence  of  the  Mexican 
empire  upon  the  basis  contained  in  the  plan  of  Iguala : 
and  it  was  agreed,  that  two  commissioners  should  in- 
stantly be  sent  to  Spain,  to  communicate  it  to  the 
government  of  that  country,  and  to  offer  the  crown  of 
Mexico  as  therein  arranged.  It  was  also  agreed,  that  a 
junta  should  instantly  be  appointed,  which  should  select 
persons  to  form  a  regency  for  the  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  the  empire,  until  the  arrival  of  the  sovereign, 
and  that  a  cortes  should  be  convened  for  the  purpose 
of  forming  a  constitution  ;  moreover,  that  the  army  of  the 
three  guarantees  should  occupy  the  capital  and  strong 
places,  and  that  the  Spanish  troops  should,  as  soon  as 
possible,  be  sent  out  of  the  country. 

The  independence  of  Mexico  may  be  considered  as 
commencing  on  the  24th  of  August,  1821,  when  this 
treaty  of  Cordova  was  signed  by  the  highest  legitimate 
Spanish  authority  in  the  country  on  the  one  hand,  and 
on  the  other,  by  the  person  actually  possessing  the 
supreme  power  over  it,  by  the  will  of  the  great  majority 
of  its  inhabitants.  Agreeably  to  its  terms,  the  commis- 
sioners were  immediately  sent  to  Spam,  the  Spanish 
troops  were  withdrawn  to  places  assigned  for  their  recep- 
tion, and  the  array  of  the  three  guarantees  entered  the 
capital  on  the  27th  of  September.  On  that  same  day, 
the  junta  was  formed,  its  members  being  all  chosen  by 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  81 

the  general- in-chief ;  this  board  immediately  elected  the 
bishop  of  Puebla  as  its  president,  drew  up  a  manifesto 
to  the  nation  which  was  issued  on  the  13th  of  October, 
summoned  a  cortes  of  the  empire  to  meet  in  February 
following,  and  appointed  a  regency,  the  presidency  of 
which  was,  of  course,  conferred  upon  Iturbide.  This 
daring  man  was,  at  the  same  time,  made  generalissimo 
of  all  th-e  forces,  and  invested  with  almost  regal  powers 
and  dignities,  for  the  support  of  which  he  was  to  receive 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 
O'Donoju  could  not  survive  the  mortification  of  being 
obliged  to  countenance  these  proceedings,  by  which  his 
country  was  robbed  of  its  most  valuable  possessions, 
and  on  the  8th  of  October  he  died  in  the  city  of  Mexico. 

Iturbide  now  employed  himself  diligently,  in  pre- 
paring the  Mexicans  for  receiving  him  as  the  chief  of 
the  nation.  With  this  view,  he  did  all  in  his  power  to 
ingratiate  himself  with  the  aristocracy,  the  clergy,  and 
the  army,  sedulously  separating  himself  from  those  by 
whom  the  war  of  independence  had  been  maintained. 
His  plans  for  the  organization  of  the  congress,  were, 
however,  not  accepted  by  the  junta ;  instead  of  two 
houses,  but  one  w^as  allowed,  composed  of  deputies 
elected  by  the  people ;  it  was,  however,  arranged,  that 
those  provinces  which  sent  more  than  four  members, 
should  choose  one  ecclesiastic,  one  military  man,  and 
one  lawyer. 

The  Mexican  cortes  or  congress,  thus  constituted, 
met  at  the  capital  on  the  24th  of  February,  1822 ;  and 
ere  they  began  their  operations,  an  oath  w^as  taken  by 
each  member,  separately,  to  support  the  provisions  of  the 
plan  of  Iguala.  Notwithstanding  this  oath,  however, 
they  were  soon  divided  into  three  parties ;  the  Republi- 
cans^ anxious  to  adopt  a  system  similar  to  that  of  the 
6 


82  MEXICO   AND    HER   MILITARY   CfflEFTAINS. 

United  States ;  the  Bourbonists,  in  favor  of  the  exact 
execution  of  the  plan  of  Iguala ;  and  the  Iturbidists,  who 
wished  their  idol  to  be  elevated  at  once  to  the  throne. 
The  Republicans  and  the  Bourbonists  united  against 
the  third  party,  and  the  discussions  became  violent. 

While  these  things  were  going  on  in  Mexico,  the 
Spanish  cortes  had,  among  other  serious  matters,  been 
deliberating  on  the  measures  which  should  be  adopted 
with  regard  to  America,  and  various  plans  of  pacifica- 
tion were  proposed.  At  length  arrived  the  news  of  the 
insurrectionary  movement  at  Iguala,  and  afterwards,  the 
commissioners  who  were  empowered  to  offer  the  crown 
of  the  Mexican  empire  to  the  king  and  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  family.  How  these  propositions  were 
likely  to  be  received  by  the  cortes,  may  be  easily 
imagined  ;  the  convention  of  Cordova  between  Iturbide 
and  O'Donoju  was  declared  void,  and  orders  were  sent 
to  the  representatives  of  Spain,  in  other  countries,  to 
protest  against  any  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
Mexico.  It  was  also  resolved,  that  efforts  should  be 
made  for  the  preservation  or  recovery  of  the  American 
possessions,  by  reinforcing  the  Spanish  troops  in  those 
countries;  this  resolution  could,  however,  only  be 
regarded  as  an  energetic  expression  of  opinion  on  the 
part  of  the  cortes,  as  not  a  man  nor  a  dollar  could  then 
have  been  spared  from  the  kingdom,  torn  by  internal 
disturbances,  and  threatened  by  foreign  enemies. 

These  determinations  of  the  cortes,  taken  on  the  12th 
of  February,  1822,  were  made  known  in  Mexico  in 
April  following,  where  they  excited  considerable  sensa- 
tion. In  anticipation  of  such  replies  to  the  propositions 
made  agreeably  to  the  plan  of  Iguala,  Iturbide  had 
been  employing  every  means  in  his  power,  to  create  a 
strong  feehng  in  his  favor  among  the  people,  as  well  as 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  83 

in  the  army.  The  congress,  however,  were  in  general 
opposed  to  him,  and  many  of  its  members  wished  to  retire, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  scenes  which  they  saw  must  follow. 
The  crisis  at  length  took  place  on  the  18th  of  May, 
when  the  army  and  the  people  of  the  capital  proclaimed 
Iturbide  emperor  of  Mexico,  and  the  remaining  deputies 
of  the  congTess  sanctioned  the  choice  by  a  decree.  On 
the  following  day,  the  regency  resigned  its  powers,  the 
new  emperor  took  the  oath  to  support  the  independence, 
religion,  and  constitution  of  Mexico,  and  w^as  installed 
in  the  ancient  palace  of  the  viceroys,  under  the  title  of 
Augustin  the  First. 

It  may  be  supposed,  that  this  choice  was  not  hailed 
with  universal  satisfaction,  and  that  the  old  chiefs  of  the 
insurgents,  who  had  for  so  many  years  been  submitting  to 
dangers  and  miseries,  could  scarcely  by  pleased  to  see  one 
of  their  most  bitter  persecutors  raised  to  supreme  power 
over  them  in  a  moment.  Accordingly,  Guerrero,  Bravo, 
and  Guadalupe  Victoria,  soon  prepared  to  betake  them- 
selves to  their  old  haunts,  and  to  reassemble  their  fol- 
lowers in  opposition  to  the  new  sovereign;  and  even 
Santa  Anna,  the  most  ardent  partisan  of  the  imperial 
cause,  showed  signs  of  discontent.  The  congress,  too, 
was  loud  in  its  complaints  against  the  extravagance  and 
the  despotism  of  its  master;  who,  having  endeavored 
in  vain  to  quiet  this  body,  by  imprisoning  some  of  its 
members,  at  length,  on  the  30th  of  October,  closed  its 
doors,  and  replaced  it  by  a  constituent  junta,  composed 
of  forty-five  persons  of  his  own  selection. 

The  constituent  junta,  established  by  Iturbide,  did 
nothing  to  satisfy  the  people  ;  and  an  insurrection  broke 
out  in  the  northern  provinces,  headed  by  a  man  named 
Garza.  This  was  soon  put  down  by  the  forces  of  the 
government ;  Iturbide  was  not,  how^ever,  equally  sue- 


84  MEXICO   AND   HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

cessful  with  regard  to  the  second  attack  made  upon  his 
authority.  He  had  conceived  suspicions  of  Santa 
Anna's  fidelity,  which  induced  him  to  withdraw  that 
officer  fi'om  his  command,  and  he  ordered  him  to  appear 
at  the  capital.  Santa  Anna  learned  the  news  of  his 
removal  at  Jalapa,  a  cit}-  on  the  road  between  Mexico 
and  Vera  Cruz ;  and  without  losing  a  moment,  he  set 
off  for  the  latter  place,  which  he  reached  before  the 
arrival  of  the  emperor's  orders.  Assembling  the  garrison, 
he  harangued  them  upon  the  subject  of  the  injustice  and 
despotism  of  the  existing  government,  and  called  upon 
them  to  aid  him  in  overthrowing  it ;  they  received  his  pro- 
position with  joy,  and  immediately  joined  him  in  pro- 
claiming a  republic.  Santa  Anna  having  then  reduced  to 
submission  the  neighboring  towns,  marched  against 
Jalapa;  from  this  place,  however,  he  was  repulsed  by 
Echavarri,  the  captain-general  of  the  province,  and  forced 
to  take  refuge  for  a  time  in  a  mountain,  overlooking  the 
celebrated  royal  bridge,  thirty  miles  from  Vera  Cruz. 
Here  he  was  joined  by  Guadalupe  Victoria,  on  whose 
appearance  many  flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  insur- 
gents ;  their  success  nevertheless  remained  a  matter  of 
doubt,  until  Echavarri  took  part  with  them,  and  a  new 
plan  was  formed  on  the  2d  of  February',  1823,  called 
the  Act  of  Casas  Matas^  by  which  that  of  Iguala  was 
entirely  superseded. 

The  Act  of  Casas  Matas,  guarantying  a  republican 
form  of  government,  was  universally  adopted,  and  Itur- 
bide,  finding  himself  deserted  by  all  parties,  abdicated 
the  throne  on  the  19th  of  March,  just  ten  months  after 
he  had  first  ascended  it.  He  was  escorted  to  the  coast 
near  Vera  Cruz,  and  on  the  11th  of  May  embarked  with 
his  family  for  Leghorn.  No  one  can  suspect  Iturbide  of 
cowardice,  and  what  prompted  him  to  abdicate  is  a  mys- 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  00 

tery  which,  perhaps,  can  best  be  solved  by  his  own 
statement : 

The  epoch  in  which  I  have  lived  has  been  a  critical 
one ;  equally  critical  is  the  moment  at  which  I  am  about 
to  submit  to  the  world  a  sketch  of  my  political  career. 
The  pubhc  are  not  uninformed  of  my  name,  or  of  my 
actions  ;  but  they  have  known  both  through  a  medium 
greatly  discolored  by  the  interests  of  those  persons  w-ho 
have  transmitted  them  to  distant  countries.  There  is 
one  great  nation  particularly,  in  which  several  individ- 
uals have  disapproved  of  my  conduct,  and  have  misrepre- 
sented my  character.  It  becomes  my  duty,  therefore, 
to  relate  my  own  history.  I  shall  tell  with  the  frank- 
ness of  a  soldier,  both  what  I  have  been  and  what  I  am. 
My  actions  and  their  motives  may  thus  be  fairly  judged 
by  every  impartial  person  of  the  present  age,  still  more 
by  posterity.  I  know  no  other  passion  or  interest  save 
that  of  transmitting  to  my  children  a  name  which  they 
need  not  be  ashamed  to  bear. 

It  would  be  an  idle  waste  of  time  to  set  about  refu- 
ting the  various  attacks  which  have  been  circulated 
against  me ;  they  are  framed  in  terms  calculated  only  to 
reflect  dishonor  upon  their  authors. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  break  the  chains  which 
enthralled  my  country:  I  proclaimed  her  independence: 
I  yielded  to  the  voice  of  a  grateful  and  a  generous 
people,  and  allowed  myself  to  be  seated  on  a  throne 
which  I  had  created,  and  had  destined  for  others ;  I 
repressed  the  spirit  of  intrigue  and  disorder.  These  are 
my  crimes ;  notwithstanding  which  I  now  appear,  and 
shall  continue  to  appear,  with  as  sincere  a  countenance 
before  the  Spaniards  and  their  king,  as  I  have  worn 
before  the  Mexicans  and  their  new  rulers.     To  both 


BS 


MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 


countries  I  have  rendered  important  services,  though 
neither  knew  how  to  profit  by  the  advantages  which  I 
acquired  for  them. 

In  the  year  1810,  I  was  simply  a  subaltern  officer ;  a 
lieutenant  in  the  provincial  regiment  of  Valladolid,  my 
native  city.  It  is  well  known,  that  the  indiWduals  who 
serve  in  those  troops  receive  no  pay.  The  military  pro- 
fession was  not  the  principal  object  of  my  pursuit.  I 
possessed  an  independence,  and  attended  to  the  im- 
provement of  my  property,  without  disturbing  my  mind 
with  the  desire  of  obtaining  public  employments.  I  did 
not  stand  in  need  of  them,  either  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  me  a  subsistence,  or  of  adding  distinction  to 
my  name,  as  it  pleased  Providence  to  give  me  an  hon- 
orable origin,  which  my  forefathers  have  never  stained, 
and  which  down  to  my  time  all  my  kinsmen  have  sup- 
ported by  their  conduct. 

When  the  revolution,  set  on  foot  by  Don  Miguel 
Hidalgo,  curate  of  Dolores,  broke  out,  he  offered  me 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-general.  The  offer  was  one  that 
might  have  tempted  any  young  man  without  experience, 
and  at  an  age  when  his  ambition  might  be  excited.  I 
declined  it,  however,  because  I  was  satisfied  that  the 
plans  of  the  curate  were  ill  contrived,  and  that  they 
would  produce  only  disorder,  massacre,  and  devastation, 
without  accomplishing  the  object  which  he  had  in  view. 
The  result  demonstrated  the  truth  of  my  predictions. 
Hidalgo,  and  those  who  followed  his  example,  desolated 
the  country,  destroyed  private  property,  deepened  the 
hatred  between  the  Americans  and  Europeans,  sacrificed 
thousands  of  victims,  obstructed  the  fountains  of  public 
wealth,  disorganized  the  army,  annihilated  industry, 
rendered  the  condition  of  the  Americans  worse  than  it 
was  before,  by  exciting  the  Spaniards  to  a  sense  of  the 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  87 

dangers  which  threatened  them;  they  moreover  cor- 
rupted the  manners  of  the  people,  and  far  from  obtain- 
ing independence,  increased  the  obstacles  which  were 
opposed  to  it. 

If,  therefore,  I  took  up  arms  at  that  epoch,  it  was 
not  to  make  war  against  the  Americans,  but  against  a 
lawless  band  who  harassed  the  country.  The  Mexican 
congress,  at  a  later  period,  proposed  that  statues  should 
be  erected  to  tiie  leaders  of  that  insurrection,  and  that 
funeral  honors  should  be  paid  to  the  ashes  of  those 
who  perished  in  it.  I  have  warred  with  those  chiefs, 
and  I  should  war  with  them  again  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. The  word  insurrection  in  that  instance 
did  not  mean  independence  and  equal  liberty ;  its 
object  was,  not  to  reclaim  the  rights  of  the  nation, 
but  to  exterminate  all  the  Europeans,  to  destroy  their 
possessions,  and  to  trample  on  the  laws  of  war,  human- 
ity, and  religion.  The  belligerent  parties  gave  no  quar- 
ter :  disorder  presided  over  the  operations  on  both 
sides,  though  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  one  party 
are  censurable,  not  only  for  the  evils  which  they  caused, 
but  also  for  having  provoked  the  other  party  to  retaliate 
the  atrocities  which  were  perpetrated  by  their  enemies. 

About  the  month  of  October,  in  the  year  1810, 1  was 
offered  a  safe  conduct  for  my  father  and  family,  together 
with  assurances  that  his  property  and  mine  should  be 
exempted  from  conflagration  and  plunder,  and  that  the 
people  attached  to  them  should  not  be  subject  to  assas- 
sination (which  was  at  that  time  a  matter  of  ordinary 
occurrence),  on  the  sole  condition  that  I  should  quit  the 
standard  of  the  king  and  remain  neutral.  These  propo- 
sitions were  made  to  me  by  the  leaders  of  that  disas- 
trous insurrection,  and  are  well  known  to  the  Mexicans. 
I  was  then  at  San  Felipe  del  Obraje,  commanding  a 


88  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

small  detachment  of  infantr)',  and  at  a  distance  of  four 
leagues  from  me  was  Hidalgo  with  a  considerable  force. 
I  gave  the  same  answers  to  these  overtures,  as  to  the 
propositions  already  mentioned.  I  always  looked  upon 
that  man  as  criminal,  who,  in  a  season  of  political  con- 
vulsions, sheltering  himself  in  cowardly  indolence, 
remained  a  cold  spectator  of  the  evils  which  oppressed 
his  country,  and  made  no  effort  to  mitigate,  at  least,  if 
he  could  not  remove,  the  sufferings  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
I  therefore  kept  the  field,  witli  a  view  equally  to  serve 
the  king,  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Mexicans. 

I  was  in  consequence  engaged  in  several  expeditions, 
and  had  the  good  fortune  to  see  victory  never  desert  the 
troops  under  my  command,  except  on  one  inconsidera- 
ble occasion  an  1815),  when  I  made  an  attack  on  Co- 
poro,  a  military  point  which  was  well  fortified,  and 
inaccessible  from  the  nature  of  the  ground.  I  then 
served  under  the  orders  of  Llanos,  a  Spanish  general. 
He  commanded  me  to  attack  the  place  ;  delicacy  forbade 
me  to  offer  any  opposition  to  his  mandate,  though  I  was 
fully  convinced  that  the  result  could  not  be  favorable. 
As  soon  as  I  was  on  the  march,  I  communicated  my 
opinion  to  the  general  by  despatch :  I  retreated,  as  I  had 
foreseen  I  should  do,  but  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  pre- 
serve four-fifths  of  my  force,  in  an  action  in  which  I 
apprehended  that  I  should  have  lost  the  whole. 

I  engaged  with  the  enemy  as  often  as  he  offered 
battle,  or  as  I  came  near  him,  frequently  with  inferior 
numbers  on  my  part.  I  led  the  sieges  of  several  forti- 
fied places,  from  which  I  dislodged  the  enemy,  and  I 
rendered  them  incapable  of  serving  afterwards  as  as}'lums 
for  the  discontented.  I  had  no  other  opponents  than 
those  of  the  cause  which  I  defended,  nor  any  other  rivals 
than  those  who  were  envious  of  my  success. 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.         ^  89 

In  1816  the  provinces  of  GuanajuatQ  and  Valladolid, 
and  the  army  of  the  north  were  under  my  command ; 
but  I  resigned  my  office  through  a  sense  of  deUcacy, 
and  retired  to  pursue  my  natural  disposition,  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  my  estates.  The  reason  of  my  resignation 
was  this :  two  inhabitants  of  Queretaro,  who  were  sub- 
sequently assisted  by  four  or  five  families  in  Guanajuato, 
three  of  which  consisted  of  the  families  of  three  brothers, 
and  ought  therefore  to  be  considered  as  one,  sent  a  me- 
morial against  me  to  the  viceroy.  Many  were  the 
crimes  of  which  they  accused  me ;  they  could  not,  how- 
ever, find  one  witness  to  support  their  charges,  though 
I  had  resigned  for  the  purpose  of  removing  every  obsta- 
cle to  their  coming  forward,  by  taking  away  the  motives 
of  hope  on  the  one  side,  or  of  fear  on  the  other.  The 
families  of  the  countess  dowager  of  Rul,  and  of  Ala- 
man,  gave  proof,  by  abandoning  the  accusation,  that 
they  had  been  taken  by  surprise,  and  that  they  had  been 
deceived.  The  viceroys,  Calleja  and  Apodaca,  took 
cognizance  of  the  matter,  and  after  hearing  the  reports 
of  the  Ayuntamientos,  the  curates,  the  political  chiefs, 
the  commandants  and  military  chiefs,  and  of  all  the  most 
respectable  persons  in  the  two  provinces,  and  the  army 
(who  not  only  made  my  cause  their  own,  but  gave  me 
tokens  of  their  unqualified  approbation),  they  affirmed 
the  dictamen  of  their  auditor,  and  of  the  two  civil  minis- 
ters, declaring  that  the  accusation  was  false  and  calum- 
nious in  all  its  parts,  that  I  had  permission  to  institute 
an  action  of  damages  against  the  slanderers,  and  that  I 
might  return  to  discharge  the  functions  of  the  office 
which  I  had  resigned.  I  did  not  choose  to  resume  the 
command,  nor  to  exercise  my  right  of  action,  and  I  gave 
up  the  pay  which  I  enjoyed. 

The  ingratitude  which  I  experienced  from  men  had 


90  ME^^ICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

wounded  my  feelings  deeply ;  their  insincerity,  to  call 
it  by  no  severer  name,  made  me  shun  every  opportunity 
of  again  becoming  the  object  of  their  attacks.  Besides, 
the  anger  of  the  contending  parties  having  expended 
itself,  and  the  country  having  returned  to  a  state  of 
comparative  tranquillity,  I  was  relieved  from  that  sense 
of  obligation  which  six  years  before  had  compelled  me 
to  have  recourse  to  arms.  My  country  no  longer  stood 
in  need  of  my  services,  and  without  betrajTng  my  duty, 
I  thought  that  I  mi^t  now  rest  from  the  toils  of  the 
camp. 

In  1820  the  constitution  was  re-established  in  Spain. 
The  new  order  of  things,  the  ferment  in  which  the 
Peninsula  was  placed,  the  machinations  of  the  discon- 
tented, the  want  of  moderation  amongst  the  supporters 
of  the  new  system,  the  vacillation  of  the  authorities, 
and  the  conduct  of  the  government  and  cortes  at 
Madrid  (who,  from  the  decrees  which  they  issued,  and 
the  speeches  which  some  of  the  deputies  pronounced, 
appeared  to  have  determined  on  alienating  the  colonies), 
filled  the  heart  of  every  good  patriot  with  the  desire  of 
independence,  and  excited  amongst  the  Spaniards 
established  in  the  country,  the  apprehension  that  all  the 
horrors  of  the  former  insurrection  were  about  to  be 
repeated.  Those  who  exercised  the  chief  authority,  and 
had  the  forces  at  their  command,  took  such  precautions 
as  fear  naturally  dictated ;  and  those  persons  who  at  the 
former  epoch  had  lived  by  disorder,  made  preparations 
for  again  turning  it  to  advantage.  In  such  a  state 
of  things  the  richest  and  most  beautiful  part  of  Amer- 
ica was  about  to  become  again  the  prey  of  con- 
tending factions.  In  every  quarter  clandestine  meet- 
ings took  place,  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the 
form   of    government   which    ought    to    be    adopted. 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  91 

Among  the  Europeans,  and  their  adherents,  some 
wished  for  the  establishment  of  the  Spanish  constitu- 
tion. They  succeeded  in  realizing  their  views  to  a 
certain  extent,  but  the  system  was  badly  understood, 
and  the  loose  manner  in  which  it  was  obeyed,  indicated 
the  shortness  of  its  duration.  There  were  some  who 
conceived  that  it  ought  to  undergo  modifications,  inas- 
much as  the  constitution  framed  by  the  cortes  at  Cadiz 
was  inapplicable  to  "  New  Spain."  Others  there  were 
who  sighed  after  the  old  absolute  government,  as  the 
best  support  of  their  lucrative  employments,  which  they 
exercised  in  a  despotic  manner,  and  by  which  they  had 
gained  a  monopoly.  The  privileged  and  powerful 
classes  fomented  these  different  parties,  attaching  them- 
selves to  the  one  or  the  other,  according  to  the  extent 
of  their  political  information,  or  the  projects  of  aggran- 
dizement which  their  imaginations  presented.  The 
Americans  wished  for  independence,  but  they  were  not 
agreed  as  to  the  mode  of  effecting  it,  still  less  as  to  the 
form  of  government  which  they  should  prefer.  With 
respect  to  the  former  object,  many  were  of  opinion  that 
in  the  first  place,  all  the  Europeans  should  be  extermi- 
nated, and  their  property  given  up  to  confiscation.  The 
less  sanguinary  would  have  been  contented  with  banish- 
ing them  from  the  country,  thus  reducing  thousands  of 
families  to  a  state  of  orphanage.  The  moderate  party 
suggested  only  that  they  should  be  excluded  from  all 
public  offices,  and  degraded  to  the  condition  in  which 
they  had  kept  the  natives  of  the  country  for  three  cen- 
turies. As  to  the  form  of  government,  one  party 
proposed  a  monarchy,  tempered  by  the  Spanish,  or 
some  other  constitution ;  a  second  party  wished  for  a 
federative  republic  ;  a  third  for  a  central  republic  ;  and 
the  partisans  of  each  system,  full  of  enthusiasm,  were 


92  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

impatient    for    the    accomplishment   of  their   different 
objects. 

I  had  friends  in  the  principal  towns,  many  of  whom 
had  been  long  connected  with  my  family  ;  others  I  had 
known  in  my  expeditions,  and  during  the  period  when 
I  held  my  command.  The  army,  I  had  reason  to 
believe,  was  strongly  attached  to  me.  All  those  who 
knew  me  did  their  utmost  to  supply  me  with  information. 
I  had  visited  the  best  provinces,  obtained  accurate  infor- 
mation as  to  the  nature  of  the  country  and  the  character 
of  the  inhabitants,  the  points  capable  of  being  fortified, 
and  the  resources  upon  which  dependence  might  be 
placed.  I  saw  new  revolutions  on  the  eve  of  breaking 
out ;  my  country  was  about  to  be  drenched  in  blood ;  I 
was  led  to  believe  that  I  had  the  power  to  save  her,  and 
I  did  not  hesitate  to  undertake  so  sacred  a  duty. 

I  formed  my  plan,  known  under  the  title  of  "  the 
plan  of  Iguala."  A  pamphlet,  which  I  have  seen,  has 
asserted  that  that  project  was  the  work  of  a  club  of  ser- 
viles,  who  held  their  meeting  at  the  profesa,  a  building 
belonging  to  the  congregation  of  St.  Philip,  in  Mexico. 
Any  person  who  reads  the  document  must  be  convinced, 
from  its  contents  alone,  that  it  could  not  have  been  dic- 
tated by  servilism  ;  I  put  out  of  the  question  the  opinions 
of  those  persons  to  whom  it  is  attributed,  and  shall  only 
say  that  they  are  matters  upon  which  the  multitude  is 
very  commonly  mistaken.  For  me,  I  look  upon  those 
persons  as  men  eminently  respectable  for  tlieir  virtues 
and  their  knowledge.  After  the  plan  had  been  drawn 
out,  I  consulted  upon  it  with  distinguished  individuals 
of  different  parties ;  not  one  of  them  disapproved  of  it ; 
it  was  not  modified  in  any  manner ;  nothing  was  added 
or  erased. 

In  tracing  out  this  project,  my  aim  was  to  give  inde- 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  93 

pendence  to  my  country,  because  such  was  the  general 
desire  of  the  Americans ;  a  desire  founded  on  natural 
feelings,  and  on  principles  of  justice.  It  was,  besides, 
the  only  means  by  which  the  interests  of  the  two  nations 
could  be  secured.  The  Spaniards  would  not  allow 
themselves  to  be  convinced  that  their  decline  began  wdth 
their  acquisition  of  the  colonies,  while  the  colonists  were 
fully  persuaded  that  the  time  of  their  emancipation  had 
arrived. 

The  plan  of  Iguala  guarantied  the  religion  which  we 
inherited  from  our  ancestors.  To  the  reigning  family 
of  Spain,  it  held  out  the  only  prospect  which  survived 
for  preserving  those  extensive  and  fertile  provinces. 
To  the  Mexicans,  it  granted  the  right  of  enacting  their 
own  laws,  and  of  having  their  government  established 
within  their  own  territory.  To  the  Spaniards,  it  offered 
an  asylum,  which,  if  they  had  possessed  any  foresight, 
they  would  not  have  despised.  It  secured  the  rights  of 
equality,  of  property,  and  of  liberty,  the  knowledge  of 
which  is  within  the  reach  of  every  one,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  which,  when  once  acquired,  every  man  would 
exert  all  his  power  to  preserve.  The  plan  of  Iguala 
extinguished  the  odious  distinction  of  castes,  offered  to 
every  stranger  safety,  convenience,  and  hospitality ;  it 
left  the  road  to  advancement  open  to  merit ;  conciliated 
the  good  opinion  of  every  reasonable  man  ;  and  opposed 
an  impenetrable  barrier  to  the  machinations  of  the  dis- 
contented. 

The  operation  of  putting  the  plan  into  execution  was 
crowned  with  the  happy  result  which  I  had  anticipated. 
Six  months  were  sufficient  to  untwist  the  entangled 
knot  which  had  bound  the  two  worlds.  Without  blood- 
shed, without  fire,  robbery,  devastation,  without  a  tear, 
my  country  was  free,  and  transformed  from  a  colony 


94  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

into  an  empire.  In  order  to  render  the  work  conforma- 
ble to  received  customs,  only  one  additional  circum- 
stance was  required — a  treaty,  which  the  diplomatists 
would  add  to  the  long  catalogue  of  those  which  they 
already  possess,  and  which  commonly  turn  out  to  be 
only  so  many  proofs  of  the  bad  faith  of  men,  as  they 
are  not  seldom  violated  when  it  is  the  interest  of  one  of 
the  parties,  and  he  happens  to  be  the  strongest.  Never- 
theless, it  is  right  to  follow  the  laws  of  custom.  On  the 
24th  of  August,  I  had  an  interview  with  that  most  wor- 
thy Spanish  general,  Don  Juan  de  0  Donoju ;  and  on 
the  same  day  was  concluded  between  us  a  treaty,  which 
bears  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  was  signed,  and 
was  sent  off  to  his  majesty,  Ferdinand  VII.,  by  an  offi- 
cer of  0  Donoju's  suit. 

The  treaty  of  Cordova  opened  to  me  the  gates  of  the 
capital,  which  otherwise  I  could  have  forced.  But  it  is 
always  delightful  to  me  to  be  spared  the  necessity  of 
exposing  my  men,  and  of  shedding  the  blood  of  those 
who  had  been  my  companions  in  arms. 

There  were  persons  who  raised  questions  on  the  treaty 
of  Cordova,  by  doubting  my  authority,  as  well  as  that 
of  0  Donoju,  to  enter  into  a  compact  upon  a  matter  of 
so  much  delicacy.  It  would  be  easy  to  answer  them, 
by  saying  that  in  me  was  deposited  the  will  of  the  Mexi- 
can people  at  that  period ;  in  the  first  place,  because 
that  which  I  signed  in  their  name  was  conformable  to 
what  they  must  have  desired ;  and  secondly,  because 
they  had  already  given  proofs  of  their  sentiments ;  such 
as  were  able  to  bear  arms,  by  joining  me,  and  others  by 
assisting  me  in  every  way  which  lay  in  their  power.  In 
every  place  through  which  I  passed,  I  was  received  in 
the  most  enthusiastic  manner.  Seeing  that  no  one  was 
forced  to  exhibit  these  demonstrations,  it  is  to  be  inferred 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  95 

that  they  approved  of  my  intentions,  and  that  their  ideas 
accorded  with  mine.  With  respect  fo  General  0 
Donoju,  he  was  the  principal  authority  furnished  with 
credentials  from  his  government,  and  even  though  he 
might  not  have  received  specific  instructions  fbr  that 
particular  case,  the  circumstances  authorized  him  to  do 
the  best  he  could  for  his  country. 

Had  this  general  commanded  an  army  superior  to 
mine,  and  possessed  resources  sufficient  to  enable  him  to 
carry  on  war  against  me,  he  might  have  properly  refused 
to  sign  the  treaty  of  Cordova,  without  first  communicat- 
ing with  his  government,  and  receiving  its  answer.  But 
attended  as  he  was  with  scarcely  a  dozen  officers,  the 
whole  country  being  in  my  power,  his  mission  being 
adverse  to  the  sentiments  of  the  people,  unable  to 
procure  intelligence  of  the  state  of  things,  without  any 
knowledge  of  the  localities,  shut  up  in  a  weak  fortress, 
which  was  exposed  to  our  fire,  with  an  army  in  front  of 
him,  and  the  few  troops  of  the  king  who  had  remained 
in  Mexico,  commanded  by  an  intrusive  chief;  under 
such  circumstances,  let  those  persons  who  disapprove 
of  the  conduct  of  0  Donoju  say  what  they  would  have 
done  if  they  had  been  in  his  place,  or  what  they  imagine 
he  ought  to  have  done?  He  must  have  signed  the 
treaty  of  Cordova,  or  have  become  my  prisoner,  or 
have  returned  to  Spain !  he  had  no  other  alternative. 
If  he  had  chosen  either  of  the  latter,  all  his  country- 
men would  have  been  compromised,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Spain  would  have  lost  every  hope  of  those 
advantages  which  it  then  obtained  ;  advantages  which  it 
never  would  have  acquired,  if  I  had  not  been  in  the 
command,  and  if  0  Donoju  had  not  been  an  able 
politician  as  well  as  a  faithful  Spaniard. 

I  entered  Mexico  on  the  27th  of  September,  1821 ; 


96  MEXICO   AND   HER   MILITARY    CmEFTAINS. 

on  the  same  day  was  installed  the  junta  of  government 
which  is  spoken  of  in  the  plan  of  Iguala,  and  the  treaty 
Cordova.  It  was  nominated  by  me,  but  not  according 
to  my  arbitraiy-  choice  ;  for  I  wished  to  assemble  together 
such  men  of  every  party,  as  enjoyed  the  highest  reputa- 
tion amongst  their  friends.  This  was  the  only  means 
which  could  be  resorted  to  in  such  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances for  consulting  the  public  opinion. 

Up  to  this  point  my  measures  gained  general  appro- 
bation, and  in  no  instance  were  my  hopes  deceived.  But 
as  soon  as  the  junta  began  to  exercise  its  functions,  it 
perverted  the  powers  which  had  been  granted  to  it ;  and 
within  a  few  days  after  its  installation,  I  saw  what  was 
likely  to  be  the  issue.  From  that  moment  I  shuddered 
for  the  fate  that  awaited  my  fellow-citizens.  It  was  in 
my  power  to  resume  the  whole  authorit}-,  and  I  asked 
myself,  ought  I  not  to  resume  it,  if  such  a  step  be  essen- 
tial to  the  safety  of  my  countrj-  ?  I  considered,  how- 
ever, that  it  would  have  been  rash  in  me  to  resolve 
on  undertaking  such  an  enterprise,  relying  solely  on  my 
own  judgment.  If  I  were  to  consult  with  others,  my 
design  might  transpire,  and  intentions,  which  had 
sprung  solely  from  my  love  for  my  country,  and  from  a 
desire  to  promote  its  happiness,  might  be  attributed  to 
ambitious  views,  and  construed  into  a  violation  of  my 
promise.  Besides,  even  if  I  were  to  accomplish  ever^'- 
thing  which  I  proposed,  I  could  not  have  done  it  with- 
out infringing  on  the  plan  of  Iguala,  which  it  was  my 
great  object  to  maintain,  because  I  looked  upon  it  as  the 
ffigis  of  the  public  welfare.  These  were  the  true  rea- 
sons which,  together  with  others  of  less  importance, 
restrained  me  from  taking  any  decisive  measures.  They 
would  have  brought  me  into  collision  with  the  favorite 
feelings  of  the  cultivated  nations  of  the  world,  and  have 


DON    AUGUSTINO   ITURBIDE.  97 

rendered  me,  for  some  time,  an  object  of  hatred  to  a 
set  of  men,  who  were  infatuated  by  chimerical  ideas,  and 
who  had  never  learned,  or  had  soon  forgotten,  that  the 
republic  which  was  most  jealous  of  its  liberty,  possessed 
also  its  dictators.  I  may  add,  that  I  have  always 
endeavored  to  be  consistent  in  my  principles ;  and  as  I 
had  proposed  to  form  a  junta,  I  fulfilled  my  promise, 
and  was  reluctant  to  undo  the  work  of  my  own  hands. 

There  were  at  this  time  some  deputies  in  Mexico 
who  set  little  value  on  the  public  happiness,  when  it  is 
opposed  to  their  private  interest,  and  who  had  acquired 
reputation  by  some  actions  that  appeared  generous  to 
those  who  were  benefited  by  them  \vithout  knowing  the 
secret  views  by  which  they  had  been  prompted.  They 
were  well  acquainted  with  the  mysteries  of  intrigue,  ever 
ready  to  stoop  to  servility  when  they  found  it  expedient, 
and  to  assume  insolence  when  their  star  was  in  the 
ascendant.  These  men  disliked  me  because  I  had 
hitherto  been  successful  in  my  career,  and  they  began 
to  foment  those  parties  which  were  afterwards  known 
under  the  titles  of  Republicans  and  Bourbonists,  and 
which,  however  they  differed  on  other  points,  were 
united  in  their  opposition  to  me. 

The  republicans  were  hostile  to  me,  because  they 
well  knew  they  could  never  bring  me  to  contribute  to  the 
establishment  of  a  government,  which,  whatever  might 
be  its  attractions,  did  not  suit  the  Mexicans.  Nature 
produces  nothing  by  sudden  leaps ;  she  operates  by 
intermediate  degrees.  The  moral  world  follows  the  laws 
of  the  physical.  To  think  that  we  could  emerge  all  at 
once  from  a  state  of  debasement,  such  as  that  of  slavery, 
and  from  a  state  of  ignorance,  such  as  had  been  inflicted 
upon  us  for  three  hundred  years,  during  which  we  had 
neither  books  nor  instructors,  and  the  possession  of 
7 


98  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

knowledge  had  been  thought  a  sufficient  cause  for  per- 
secution ;  to  think  that  we  could  gain  information  and 
refinement  in  a  moment,  as  if  by  enchantment ;  that  we 
could  acquire  every  virtue,  forget  prejudices,  and  give 
up  false  pretensions,  was  a  vain  expectation,  and  could 
only  have  entered  into  the  visions  of  an  enthusiast. 

The  Bourbonists,  on  the  other  hand,  wished  for  my 
fall,  because  as  soon  as  the  decision  of  the  government 
of  Madrid  was  made  known,  through  its  decree  of  the 
13th  of  February,  which  was  subsequently  transmitted 
by  the  minister  for  the  colonies,  and  in  which  the  con- 
duct of  0  Donoju  was  formally  disapproved,  the  treaty 
of  Cordova  became  null  and  void,  as  to  that  part  of  it 
which  invited  the  Bourbons  to  the  crown  of  Mexico,  and 
effective  with  respect  to  the  nation's  entering  into  the 
full  enjoyment  of  its  right  to  elect  as  sovereign  the  indi- 
vidual whom  it  would  deem  most  worthy  of  that  high 
office.  The  Bourbonists,  therefore,  no  longer  expecting 
that  a  Bourbon  would  reign  in  Mexico,  thought  only  of 
our  returning  to  our  former  state  of  dependence ;  a 
^retrogression  which  was  impossible,  considering  the  im- 
potence of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  determination  of  the 
Americans. 

Hence  I  became  the  object  of  attack  to  both  these 
parties,  because  as  I  had  the  public  force  at  my  command, 
and  was  the  centre  of  general  opinion,  it  was  necessary 
to  the  preponderance  of  either  party  that  I  should  cease 
to  exist. 

The  leaders  of  the  factions  spared  no  pains  to  gain 
proseljtes ;  and  certainly  they  found  many  to  adhere  to 
them.  Some  who  were  the  least  experienced,  suffered 
themselves  to  be  easily  led  away;  because  they  saw- 
nothing  more  in  the  projects  on  foot  than  what  was 
represented  to  them,  and  there  is  no  design  of  which  dif- 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  99 

ferent  views  may  not  be  given ;  some  hoped  that  by  the 
subversion  of  the  government  they  might  advance  their 
own  fortunes ;  and  others,  the  natural  enemies  of  estab- 
lished order,  in  w^hatever  system  it  prevails,  were  anxious 
only  for  a  change.  Among  the  latter,  one  might  be 
named  who  values  himself  on  his  literary  accomplish- 
ments, and  has  made  himself  conspicuous  in  the  revolu- 
tion.* 

The  first  duty  of  the  junta  after  its  installation,  was 
to  frame  the  Convocatoria.  or  proclamation  for  the 
assemblage  of  a  congress,  which  was  to  give  a  consti- 
tution to  the  monarchy.  The  junta  took  more  time  to 
perform  this  duty  than  the  urgency  of  the  case  permitted, 
and  committed  several  errors  in  framing  the  convocato- 
ria. It  was  extremely  defective,  but  with  all  its  imper- 
fections it  was  accepted;  I  could  do  no  more  than 
perceive  the  evil,  and  lament  it.  The  census  of  the 
provinces  was  not  consulted ;  hence,  for  instance,  one 
deputy  was  appointed  for  a  province  containing  a 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  and  four  for  a  province 
scarcely  peopled  by  half  that  number.  Nor  did  it  at  all 
enter  into  the  calculations  of  the  junta,  that  the  repre- 
sentatives ought  to  be  in  proportion  to  the  civilization 
of  the  represented.  Three  or  four  individuals  might  be 
easily  selected  from  among  a  hundred  w^ell-educated 
citizens,  who  might  possess  the  qualifications  necessary 
to  constitute  good  deputies;  whilst  among  a  thousand, 
who  are  without  education,  and  are  ignorant  of  the  first 
rudiments,  scarcely  one  man  can  be  met  wuth  of  suffi- 
cient ability  to  know  what  is  conducive  to  the  public 
walfare — whose  mind  is  sufficiently  enlarged  to   take 

♦The  individual  here  referred  to  is  probably  Don  Lucas 
Alaman. 


• '/ 


100         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

accurate  views  of  public  affairs,  or  at  least  to  save  him 
from  extravagant  errors  respecting  them  ;  who  has  suf- 
ficient firmness  of  character  to  vote  according  to  what 
he  thinks  best,  and  not  to  deviate  from  his  opinion  when 
once  convinced  of  its  truth  ;  and  whose  experience 
enables  him  to  perceive  the  grievances  which  afflict  his 
province,  as  well  as  the  remedy  which  they  require. 
For,  although  that  remedy  might  not  always  be  within 
his  reach,  such  experience  would  enable  him,  on  hearing 
others  proposed,  to  form  a  sound  judgment  upon  them. 
These  defects  were  quite  sufficient  to  extinguish  every 
hope,  that  any  benefits  would  be  derived  from  the  con- 
vocatoria  of  the  junta.  It  had  many  other  faults  which 
I  have  not  mentioned,  as  I  do  not  mean  to  comment 
upon  them.  But  there  is  one  which  I  cannot  pass  over 
in  silence,  that  of  having  the  deputies  nominated  at  the 
will,  not  of  a  district  (j)arfido),  for  that  would  be  of  a 
majority  of  the  citizens,  but  of  the  Ayuntamientos  of  the 
principal  towns.  See  the  injury  thus  done  to  the  coun- 
try- people  at  large !  In  the  elections  a  vote  was  given 
by  the  junta,  to  the  electors,  chosen  by  the  country 
people ;  and  a  voice  was  also  given  to  the  individuals 
who  composed  the  Ayuntamiento  of  the  principal  town 
of  each  department.  But  in  electing  the  Ayuntamientos, 
it  was  possible  to  get  into  them  by  a  little  management, 
as  was  in  fact  frequently  done ;  because  the  wish  of 
aspiring  to  the  functions  of  these  bodies,  was  not  so 
general  as  the  ambition  of  obtaining  a  seat  in  congress. 
The  A}'untamientos  were,  therefore,  fiJled  up  at  their 
own  pleasure,  and  were  consequently  vitiated ;  and  as 
all  the  members  possessed  a  vote  in  the  elections  for 
ckputies,  the  Ayuntamientos  became  almost  the  only 
«;lectois.  This  is  evident  to  any  one  who  knows  how 
thinly  the  population  is  distributed  over  that  country, 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  101 

and  how  great  a  disproportion  exists  between  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  in  a  town,  and  in  its  dependencies. 

To  render  this  clearer,  let  it  be  supposed  that  a  prin- 
cipal town  of  a  province  contains  four,  eight,  or  ten 
thousand  inhabitants,  leaving  out  of  the  question  the  city 
of  Mexico,  the  population  of  which  exceeds  one  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  souls,  and  other  cities  densely 
inhabited.  The  Ayuntamiento  of  such  a  town  consists, 
perhaps,  of  fifty  or  sixty  members ;  the  departments 
which  have  to  send  electors  to  the  principal  town,  name 
no  more  than  eight  or  ten.  This  small  number,  there- 
fore, acting  in  conjunction  with  all  the  members  of  the 
Ayuntamiento,  is  reduced  to  a  cipher,  and  the  election 
terminates  according  to  the  pleasure  of  that  body. 
Thus  the  people  were  deceived  by  being  told,  that  in 
them  resided  the  sovereignty,  which  they  were  to  dele- 
gate to  the  deputies  whom  they  were  about  to  name ; 
when  in  fact  there  was  no  such  nomination,  except  on 
the  part  of  the  Ayuntamiento,  or  rather,  indeed,  of  the 
directors  of  the  junta,  who,  after  the  dissolution  of  that 
body,  passed  into  the  congress,  in  order  to  continue 
their  manoeuvres. 

To  this  system,  so  framed,  was  added  intrigue  in  the 
elections ;  the  most  worthy  men  were  not  sought  for, 
nor  even  those  who  were  decided  for  any  particular 
party.  It  was  quite  sufficient  if  the  candidate  were  my 
enemy,  or  so  ignorant  that  he  might  easily  be  persuaded 
to  become  so.  If  he  possessed  either  of  these  re- 
quisites, he  was  deemed  competent  to  discharge  the 
sacred  functions  which  were  to  be  intrusted  to  him. 

If  the  archives  of  state  have  not  been  spoliated, 
remonstrances  may  be  found  amongst  them  from  almost 
all  the  provinces,  pointing  out  the  nullity  of  the  powers 
conferred  on  the  deputies.     Several  individuals  were 


102  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

elected  who  had  been  accused  of  conduct  notoriously 
scandalous ;  some  had  been  prosecuted  as  criminals : 
others  were  men  of  broken  fortunes,  tumuhuous  dema- 
gogues, officers  who  had  capitulated,  and  who,  violat- 
ing the  laws  of  war  and  their  paroles,  had  again  taken 
up  arms  against  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  after  suffering 
defeat  had  surrendered  a  second  time.  Some  of  the 
new  deputies  were  obstinate  anti-independents,  and  one 
was  an  apostate  monk,  although  by  law  no  member  of 
the  religious  orders  could  have  a  seat  in  congress.  The 
authors  of  the  remonstrances  offered  also  to  prove,  that 
the  rules  for  the  conduct  of  the  elections,  as  they  were 
laid  down  in  the  convocatoria,  had  been  infringed ;  and 
that  the  persons  returned  were  not  those  whom  the 
majority  approved,  but  those  who  were  the  most  skilful 
in  intrigue.  These  documents  were  all  sent  to  my 
department,  when  I  was  generalissimo  and  admiral-in- 
chief;  when  I  became  emperor,  I  directed  them  to  be 
transmitted  to  the  department  of  the  interior,  for  the 
purpose  of  being  deposited  in  the  archives.  I  did  not 
wish  to  lay  them  before  the  congress,  because  even  if 
justice  were  done,  which  could  hardly  be  expected,  I 
saw  that  they  would  be  productive  only  of  odium,  and 
of  legal  prosecutions.  I  considered  that  time  would  be 
lost  in  new  elections,  as  it  would  be  necessary  to  have 
the  most  of  them  renewed,  and  I  felt  that  our  most  im- 
portant care  was  first  to  organize  the  government. 
Besides,  I  thought  that  the  errors  into  which  this  con- 
gress might  fall,  might  be  corrected  by  that  which 
should  succeed  it.  This  mode  of  reasoning,  which 
w^ould  have  been  questionable  perhaps  under  any  other 
circumstances,  was  suitable  to  those  which  then  existed, 
because  the  object  was  to  avoid  greater  evils. 

The  result  of  the  elections,  therefore,  was  the  forma- 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  103 

tion  of  a  congress,  perfectly  comfortable  to  the 
•wishes  of  the  party  who  influenced  its  nomination. 
A  few  men  of  undoubted  virtue  and  wisdom,  and 
of  the  purest  patriotism,  whose  fair  reputation  was  so 
widely  extended  that  no  machinations  could  prevent 
them  from  having  a  majority  of  suffrages,  found  them- 
selves confounded  with  a  multitude  of  intriguers,  of 
assuming  manners  and  sinister  intentions.  I  do  not 
desire  to  be  credited  on  my  mere  assertions  ;  examine  the 
acts  of  the  congress  during  the  eight  months  that  elapsed 
from  its  installation  until  its  suspension.  The  prin- 
cipal object  of  its  assembling  was  to  draw  up  a  constitu- 
tion for  the  empire  :  not  a  single  line  of  it  was  written. 
In  a  country,  naturally  the  richest  in  the  world,  the 
treasury  was  exhausted  ;  there  were  no  funds  to  pay  the 
army  or  the  public  functionaries  ;  there  was  no  revenue, 
not  even  a  system  of  finance  established,  as  that  which 
had  existed  in  the  time  of  the  Spanish  rule  had  been 
abolished,  without  any  other  system  having  been  sub- 
stituted for  it.  The  congress  would  not  occupy  itself 
in  matters  of  such  essential  importance,  notwithstanding 
the  repeated  and  urgent  solicitations  which  I  made  to  it 
in  person,  and  through  the  secretaries  of  state.  The 
administration  of  justice  was  wholly  neglected;  in  the 
changes  which  had  taken  place  some  of  the  officers  had 
left  the  empire,  some  died,  others  had  embraced  new 
avocations,  and  the  offices  and  tribunals  were  nearly 
deserted.  Upon  this  subject  also  the  congress  declined 
to  take  any  steps :  in  short,  although  the  empire  was  in 
the  weakness  of  infancy,  and  wanted  their  assistance  at 
every  point,  they  did  nothing.  The  speeches  which 
were  pronounced,  turned  on  matters  of  the  most  trifling 
description,  and  if  any  of  them  happened  to  touch  on 
topics  deserving  of  consideration,  they  were,  to  say  the 


104  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

least  of  them,  foreign  to  the  exigencies  of  the  moment. 
What  honors  should  be  paid  to  the  chiefs  of  the  insur- 
rection who  had  fallen  ?  What  should  be  the  form  for 
the  oath  of  an  archbishop  ?  Who  ought  to  nominate 
the  supreme  tribunal  of  justice  ?  Such,  together  with  a 
demand  for  an  apostate  friar  who  was  a  prisoner  in  the 
castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  and  other  similar  subjects, 
formed  the  grave  occupations  of  a  body  so  august  in 
its  institution !  Add  to  this,  that  not  a  single  regulation 
was  made  for  the  government  of  the  interior.  The 
result  was,  that  the  congress  became  the  opprobrium  of 
the  people,  and  fell  into  a  state  of  abject  contempt. 
The  public  prints  exposed  its  defects,  and  even  one  of 
the  deputies  stated  his  opinion  that  it  stood  in  need  of 
reformation. 

It  soon  became  manifest  that  the  object  of  those  who 
gave  all  its  movements  to  that  machine,  was  only  to 
gain  time,  and  to  deceive  each  other  until  they  found  an 
opportunity,  for  the  arrival  of  which  they  secretly 
labored,  in  order  to  throw  off  the  mask.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  cunning  which  they  used,  and  the  dissimulation 
with  which  they  endeavored  to  carry  out  their  designs, 
the  people  and  the  army  saw  through  their  real  views. 
Neither  the  army  nor  the  people  desired  slavery  on  one 
hand,  or  republicanism  on  the  other ;  nor  did  they  wish 
to  see  me  deposed,  or  even  in  any  manner  offended, 
and  from  these  feelings  arose  that  distrust  with  which 
the  whole  nation  received  all  the  resolutions  that  origi- 
nated in  so  vitiated  a  body. 

About  the  month  of  April,  1822,  a  state  of  agitation 
was  observable,  which  threatened  to  end  in  anarchy. 
A  public  measure,  effected  in  a  scandalous  manner,  dis- 
covered the  hypocrisy  of  its  authors.  The  congress 
deposed  three  of  the  regents,  leaving  in  office  with  me 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  105 

only  one,  who  was  well  known  to  be  my  enemy,  for  the 
purpose  of  reducing  my  vote  in  the  executive  to  a  nul- 
lity. They  did  not  attempt  to  depose  me,  from  an 
apprehension  that  they  would  be  resisted  by  the  army 
and  the  people,  of  my  influence  wdth  whom  they  were 
well  aware.  This  resolution  was  passed  in  the  most 
precipitate  and  singular  manner.  The  question  was  pro- 
posed, discussed,  agreed  to,  and  carried  into  execution 
in  one  sitting,  whereas  it  had  been  previously  settled  by 
decree  that  every  proposition  which  was  submitted  to 
the  congress,  should  be  read  three  times,  at  three  dis- 
tinct sittings,  before  it  should  be  discussed.  After  this 
step  they  proposed  another;  a  commission,  appointed 
for  that  purpose,  presented  a  regulation  concerning  the 
regency,  in  which  the  command  of  the  army  was  declared 
incompatible  with  the  functions  of  the  executive  power. 
They  were  jealous  of  my  having  the  soldiery  at  my  dis- 
posal :  to  such  men  fear  was  very  natural.  This  regu- 
lation, although  it  did  not  receive  the  sanction  of  the 
legislature  on  account  of  the  want  of  time,  left  no  doubt 
of  the  designs  which  were  entertained  against  me,  and 
was  the  immediate  cause  which  accelerated  the  event  of 
the  18th  of  May.  At  ten  o'clock  on  that  memorable 
night  the  people  and  garrison  of  Mexico  proclaimed  me 
emperor.  "  Live  Agustin  the  First !"  was  the  universal 
cry.  Instantly,  as  if  all  were  actuated  by  the  same  sen- 
timent, that  extensive  capital  was  illuminated ;  the 
balconies  were  decorated,  and  filled  with  the  most 
respectable  inhabitants,  who  joyously  echoed  back  the 
acclamations  of  the  immense  crowds  of  people  which 
thronged  all  the  streets,  especially  those  near  the  house 
where  I  resided.  Not  one  citizen  expressed  any  disap- 
probation, a  decided  proof  of  the  weakness  of  my  ene- 
mies, and  of  the  universality  of  the  public  opinion  in  my 


106  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

favor.  No  accident  or  disorder  of  any  kind  occurred. 
The  first  impulse  of  ray  mind  was  to  go  forth  and  declare 
my  determination  not  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  the 
people.  If  I  restrained  myself  from  appearing  be- 
fore them  for  that  purpose,  it  was  solely  in  compli- 
ance with  the  counsel  of  a  friend  who  happened  at  the 
moment  to  be  with  me.  "They  will  consider  it  an 
insult,"  he  had  scarcely  time  to  say  to  me,  "and  the 
people  know  no  restraint  when  they  are  irritated.  You 
must  make  this  fresh  sacrifice  to  the  public  good ;  the 
country  is  in  danger ;  remain  a  moment  longer  undeci- 
ded, and  you  will  hear  their  acclamations  turned  into 
death-shouts."  I  felt  it  necessary  to  resign  myself  to 
circumstances ;  and  I  spent  the  whole  of  that  night  in 
allaying  the  general  enthusiasm,  and  persuading  the 
troops  to  give  time  for  my  decision,  and  in  the  mean- 
while to  render  oedience  to  the  congress.  I  went  out 
repeatedly  to  harangue  them,  and  wrote  a  short  procla- 
mation, which  was  circulated  the  following  morning, 
and  in  which  I  expressed  the  same  sentiments  as  those 
I  addressed  to  the  people.  I  convened  the  regency, 
assembled  the  generals  and  superior  officers,  communi- 
cated what  had  occurred  by  despatch  to  the  president 
of  the  congress,  and  requested  him  to  summon  imme- 
diately an  extraordinar}'  sitting.  The  regency  was  of 
opinion  that  I  ought  to  yield  to  public  opinion ;  the 
superior  officers  ot  the  army  added  that  such  also  w^as 
their  unanimous  opinion,  that  it  was  expedient  I  should 
do  so,  and  that  I  was  not  at  liberty  to  act  according  to 
my  own  desires,  as  I  had  dedicated  myself  entirely  to 
my  country ;  that  their  privations  and  sufferings  would 
be  useless  if  I  persisted  in  my  objections ;  and  that  hav- 
ing compromised  themselves  through  me,  and  having 
yielded  me  unqualified  obedience,  they  had  a  claim  to 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  107 

ray  compliance.  They  subsequently  drew  up  a  memo- 
rial which  they  presented  to  the  congress,  requesting  it 
to  take  this  important  matter  into  its  consideration. 
This  paper  was  signed  also  by  the  individual  who  sub- 
sequently officiated  as  president  of  the  act  of  Casa-Mata, 
and  by  one  of  the  present  members  of  the  executive 
body. 

The  congress  met  on  the  following  morning;  the 
people  crowded  to  the  galleries  and  the  entrance  to  the 
chamber :  their  applauses  were  incessant ;  a  joyous 
agitation  was  observable  in  every  face  ;  the  speeches  of 
the  deputies  were  interrupted  by  the  impatience  of  the 
multitude.  It  is  difficult  to  obtain  order  in  moments  like 
these  ;  but  such  an  important  discussion  required  it,  and 
in  order  to  attain  that  object,  the  congress  required  that 
I  should  be  present  at  the  sitting.  A  deputation  was 
appointed,  who  communicated  the  invitation  to  me.  I 
declined  it,  because  as  they  were  about  to  treat  of  me 
personally,  my  presence  might  be  considered  as  a 
restraint  on  the  freedom  of  debate,  and  an  impediment 
to  the  clear  and  frank  expression  of  each  individual's 
opinion.  The  deputation  and  several  general  officers, 
however,  prevailed  on  me  to  accept  the  invitation,  and 
I  immediately  went  out  in  order  to  proceed  to  the  place 
where  the  congress  was  assembled.  The  streets  were 
scarcely  passable,  so  crowded  were  they  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  capital ;  they  took  the  horses  from  my 
carriage,  and  I  was  drawn  by  the  people,  and  amidst 
their  enthusiastic  acclamations,  to  the  palace  of  the  con- 
gress. On  entering  the  hall  where  the  deputies  were 
assembled,  the  vivas  were  still  more  enthusiastic,  and 
resounded  from  every  quarter. 

The  question  of  the  nomination  was  discussed,  and 
there  was  not  a  single  deputy  who  opposed  my  acces- 


108  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

sion  to  the  throne.  The  only  hesitation  expressed  by  a 
few,  arose  from  a  consideration  that  their  powers  were 
not  extensive  enough  to  authorize  them  to  decide  on 
the  question.  It  appeared  to  them  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  notify  the  subject  to  provinces,  and  to 
require  from  them  an  enlargement  of  powers  already 
granted,  or  new  powers  specifically  applicable  to  this 
case  alone.  I  supported  this  opinion,  as  it  afforded  me 
an  opportunity  of  finding  out  some  means  for  evading 
the  acceptance  of  a  situation  which  I  was  most  anxious 
to  decline.  But  the  majority  were  of  a  contrary 
opinion,  and  I  was  elected  by  seventy-seven  voices 
against  fifteen.  These  latter  did  not  deny  me  their  suf- 
frages ;  they  confined  themselves  simply  to  the  expres- 
sion of  their  belief,  that  the  provinces  ought  to  be 
consulted,  since  they  did  not  think  their  powers  ample 
enough,  but  at  the  same  time  they  said  that  they  were 
persuaded  that  their  constituents  would  agreed  with  the 
majority,  and  think  that  what  was  done  was  in  every 
respect  conducive  to  the  public  welfare.  Mexico  never 
witnessed  a  day  of  more  unmixed  satisfaction ;  every 
order  of  the  inhabitants  testified  it.  I  returned  home  as 
I  had  proceeded  to  the  congress,  my  carriage  drawn  by 
the  people,  who  crowded  around  to  congratulate  me, 
expressing  the  pleasure  which  they  felt  on  seeing  their 
wishes  fulfilled. 

The  intelligence  of  these  events  was  transmitted  to 
the  provinces  by  express,  and  the  answers  which  suc- 
cessively came  from  each  of  them,  not  only  expressed 
approbation  of  what  had  been  done,  without  the  dis- 
sent of  a  single  town,  but  added  that  it  was  precisely 
what  they  desired,  and  that  they  would  have  ex- 
pressed their  wishes  long  before,  if  they  had  not  con- 
sidered themselves  precluded  from  doing  so  by  the  plan 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  109 

of  Iguala  and  the  treaty  of  Cordova,  to  which  they  had 
sworn.  I  received  also  the  congratulations  of  an  indi- 
vidual who  commanded  a  regiment,  and  exercised  great 
influence  over  a  considerable  part  of  the  country.  He 
told  me  that  his  satisfaction  was  so  much  the  greater,  as 
he  was  anxious  to  avoid  making  himself  remarkable ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  had  made  arrangements 
for  proclaiming  me,  in  case  it  had  not  been  done  in 
Mexico. 

The  authors  of  the  libels  which  have  been  written 
against  me,  have  not  passed  over  the  occurrences  of  the 
18th  and  19th  of  May,  amidst  which  they  represent  me 
as  acting  the  part  of  an  ambitious  tyrant,  attributing  the 
proceedings  which  took  place  to  secret  management  on 
my  part,  and  the  intrigues  of  my  friends.  I  feel  assured 
that  they  never  can  prove  the  truth  of  these  assertions, 
and  that  they  will  receive  no  credit  from  those  who 
know,  that  on  my  entry  into  Mexico,  on  the  27th  of 
September,  as  well  as  on  my  swearing  to  our  independ- 
ence, on  the  27th  of  October,  it  was  likewise  generally 
wished  that  I  should  be  proclaimed  emperor.  If  I  was 
not  so  proclaimed  at  that  time,  it  was  because  I  did  not 
wish  it,  and  it  was  with  no  small  difficulty  that  I  pre- 
vailed on  those  who  were  then  raising  the  shout,  to 
desist  from  their  purpose. 

If,  as  has  been  imputed  to  me,  I  at  that  time  con- 
ceived any  intention  of  assuming  the  crown,  I  should 
not  have  declared  the  very  reverse  in  the  plan  of  Iguala, 
adding  this  difficulty  to  those  with  which  the  enterprise 
was  already  attended.  Nay,  if  that  plan  had  been 
framed  for  the  purpose  of  deluding  the  country,  as  some 
persons  have  been  pleased  to  assert,  what  reason  was 
there  for  repeating  the  same  clause  in  the  treaty  of  Cor- 
dova, when  I  was  under  no  necessity  of  dissembling  ? 


110  MEXICO    AND   HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

If  even  up  to  that  period  I  wished  for  some  particular 
cause  to  conceal  my  design,  what  occasion  could  I  have 
found  more  favorable  to  its  accomplishment  than  the 
27th  of  September  and  the  27th  of  October,  in  that  year? 
The  whole  empire  was  then  actually  ruled  by  my  voice  ; 
there  were  no  troops  except  those  which  were  under  my 
command ;  I  was  generalissimo  of  the  army ;  the  soldiers 
were  all  attached  to  me,  and  the  people  called  me 
their  liberator ;  no  enemy  threatened  me  on  any  side, 
and  there  were  no  longer  any  Spanish  troops  in  the 
country.  The  cabinet  of  Madrid  had  not  an  individual 
throughout  all  New  Spain,  to  whom  it  could  address  its 
decrees ;  the  exertions  of  that  court  did  not  alarm  me, 
as  I  was  not  ignorant  of  the  extent  to  which  they  could 
reach.  If  I  did  not  grasp  the  sceptre  at  a  time  when  I 
not  only  could  have  been  emperor,  but  had  to  vanquish 
a  thousand  difficulties  in  order  to  prevent  being  so,  how 
can  it  be  said  that  I  obtained  it  afterwards  only  by 
intrigue  and  cabal? 

It  has  been  asserted  also,  that  there  was  not  sufficient 
freedom  in  the  congress  for  my  election,  inasmuch  as  I 
was  present  while  it  was  carried  on.  It  has  been 
already  seen  that  I  attended  because  the  congress  itself 
invited  me.  That  the  galleries  did  not  allow  the  deputies 
to  deliver  their  sentiments  is  untrue ;  each  member,  who 
chose  to  rise,  expressed  his  opinion  without  more  than 
some  few  interruptions,  which  always  happens  where  mat- 
ter of  such  importance  is  under  deliberation,  without  the 
decrees  so  discussed,  being  therefore  considered  less 
binding  than  those  which  are  passed  at  a  secret  sitting. 
It  has  been  further  alleged  that  some  superior  officers 
accompanied  me  on  that  occasion.  The  office  which  I 
then  held,  and  the  object  for  which  I  had  been  invited 
to  attend,  required  that  I  should  have  around  me  those 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  Ill 

to  whom  I  could  communicate  my  orders  in  case  of 
necessity.  However  vehemently  they  may  assert  that 
my  retinue  imposed  restraint  on  the  congress,  the  very 
persons  who  state  this  are  convinced  that  it  is  not  true. 
Four  aides-de-camp  and  the  commanding  officer  of  my 
escort  accompanied  my  suite  ;  besides  these  I  saw  six  or 
eight  captains  and  subalterns,  who  were  first  mingled 
with  the  crowd  that  thronged  the  entrance  of  the  hall ; 
these  did  not  go  in  with  me,  and  were,  therefore,  no 
more  than  so  many  spectators,  wishing  to  gratify  their 
curiosity ;  but  neither  the  latter  nor  the  former,  neither 
the  soldiers  nor  the  people,  said  or  did  anything  which 
could  be  construed  to  menace,  or  in  any  manner  restrain 
the  congress,  even  if  it  had  been  composed  of  the  most 
timid  characters,  and  had  been  electing  the  weakest  of 
mankind.  It  is  equally  false  tliat  the  hall  had  been 
filled  with  the  people,  and  that  the  deputies  were  con- 
founded amongst  them.  Unfortunately  this  has  been 
affirmed  by  the  congress  itself;  thus  proving  that  it  was 
composed  of  men  as  changeable  as  they  were  weak,  who 
were  not  ashamed  to  declare  in  the  face  of  the  world, 
that  they  voted  under  the  influence  of  fear  against  their 
conscientious  opinions,  on  a  question  of  the  gravest  im- 
portance which  could  be  presented  for  their  dehberation. 
What  confidence  can  the  provinces  repose  in  them  ? 
What  duties  can  be  confided  to  their  care  with  the  hope 
of  an  auspicious  result  ?  What  laws  can  be  dictated  by 
a  legislature  devoid  of  probity  ?  And  what  opinion  can 
be  formed  of  a  body  which  has  no  firmness,  and  blushes 
not  to  proclaim  its  servility  ?  I  should  have  considered 
as  a  libeller,  any  man  who  said  that  the  congress  had 
not  acted  from  its  own  free  will ;  but  as  it  has  itself 
declared  the  same  thing,  and  as  I  am  not  in  a  situation 
to  give  judgment  on  the  matter,  those  who  have  heard 


112  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

both  sides  will  decide  according  to  what  appears  to 
them,  and  posterity,  I  doubt  not,  will  form  an  opinion 
of  that  assembly  little  honorable  to  its  reputation. 

It  has  been  farther  alleged  that  the  number  of  depu- 
ties present  was  not  sufficient  to  give  validity  to  the 
election.  Ninety-four  attended,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  was  the  total  number  for  that  portion  of  the  empire 
which  was  previously  called  the  viceroyalty  of  Mexico ; 
from  the  kingdom  of  Guatemala  which  was  subsequently 
added  to  it,  deputies  could  not  be  received,  because  in 
some  of  the  districts  the  elections  were  carried  on  con- 
formably to  the  Spanish  constitution,  and  in  others 
according  to  a  particular  convocatoria  which  they 
framed.  An  exception  must  also  be  made  as  to  the 
deputies  who  were  to  have  come  for  the  provinces  of 
San  Salvador,  who  are  included  in  the  calculation  of 
my  adversaries,  but  who  ought  not  to  be  enumerated, 
because  that  country  had  declared  a  government  inde- 
pendent of  Mexico.  However,  taking  even  the  tvventy- 
four  deputies  for  Guatemala  into  account,  the  total 
number  would  be  one  hundred  and  eighty-two,  the  half 
of  which  is  ninety-one.  The  sitting  was  attended  by 
ninety-four  deputies,  although  only  ninety-two  voted; 
whence  it  follows  that  allowing  all  the  restrictions  which 
are  demanded,  there  were  still  the  half  and  one  more  pre- 
sent, according  to  the  rule  of  the  Spanish  constitution, 
which,  it  was  agreed,  should  be  observed  upon  this  point ; 
although  many  decrees  had  the  force  of  law,  at  the  passing 
of  which  no  more  than  seventy  or  eighty  deputies  had 
been  present.  And  what  will  the  supporters  of  the 
nullification  say  to  the  fact,  that  on  the  22d  of  June, 
1822,  without  any  desire  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, without  any  extraordinar}^  assemblage  of  the 
people  which  might  overawe  the  deputies,  without  being 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  113 

pressed  for  time  in  their  deliberations,  without  my 
presence  serving  as  an  obstacle,  without  any  agitation  in 
the  capital,  and  the  whole  garrison  being  in  profound 
tranquillity,  the  congress  of  its  own  accord  resolved, 
with  the  entire  unanimity  of  one  hundred  and  nine  de- 
puties who  were  present,  that  the  crown  should  be  here- 
ditary in  my  family  in  lineal  succession,  giving  the  title 
of  Prince  of  the  Empire  to  my  eldest  son,  whom  they 
designated  as  the  heir  apparent,  of  Mexican  Princes  to 
the  rest  of  my  sons,  Prince  of  the  Union  to  my  father, 
and  Princess  de  Iturbide  to  my  sister  ?  They  also  pre- 
scribed the  regulations  for  my  inauguration,  and  all  this 
they  did  without  its  having  been  preceded,  or  attended, 
by  any  of  those  causes  which  compelled  them,  as  they 
alleged,  to  join  in  the  first  acclamation.  I  mention  this, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  rights,  which  I  have 
renounced  with  the  most  perfect  good  will,  but  to  an- 
swer the  cavils  which  have  been  thrown  out  against 
me,  and  to  show  the  bad  faith  with  which  I  have  been 
treated. 

In  order  to  avoid  murmurs,  I  did  not,  after  my  elec- 
tion, bestow  those  favors  which  are  usually  lavished  on 
such  occasions.  It  is  not  true  that  I  distributed  money, 
or  that  I  gave  away  any  appointments,  except  that  of  a 
captain  to  a  sergeant,  not  for  his  having  contributed  to 
my  elevation,  but  because  he  bore  the  best  character  in 
his  regiment,  and  I  wished  to  give  the  soldiers  a  proof 
of  my  attachment  for  them,  by  promoting  an  individual 
whom  they  considered  worthy  of  a  superior  rank. 

I  have  already  frequently  said,  and  I  cannot  too  often 
repeat  it,  that  I  accepted  the  crown  only  with  the  view  to 
serve  my  country,  and  to  save  it  from  anarchy.  I  was 
well  persuaded  that  my  personal  situation  was  anything 
but  improved  ;  that  I  should  be  persecuted  by  envy  ;  that 
8 


114  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

the  measures  which  I  could  not  avoid  adopting,  would 
dissatisfy  many ;  that  it  was  impossible  to  please  all ; 
that  I  was  about  to  clash  with  a  body  which  was  full  of 
ambition  and  pride,  and  which,  at  the  very  moment  it 
was  declaiming  against  despotism,  labored  to  concen- 
trate within  its  own  circle  all  the  power  of  the  state, 
leaving  the  monarch  reduced  to  a  mere  phantom,  and 
assuming  to  itself  not  only  the  enactment,  but  the  ad- 
ministration and  execution  of  the  laws ;  a  tyranny  which 
is  always  more  intolerable  when  in  the  hands  of  a 
numerous  body,  than  when  deposited  in  those  of  a  sin- 
gle individual.  The  Mexicans  would  have  been  less 
free  than  the  inhabitants  of  Algiers,  if  the  congress  had 
carried  all  its  designs  into  effect.  At  one  time  or  other 
they  will  be  undeceived  ;  may  it  not  be  so  late  as  that 
the  difficulties  which  surround  them  shall  be  found  in- 
superable !  I  was  w^ell  aware  that  I  was  about  to  become 
the  slave  of  business ;  that  the  duties  which  I  undertook 
would  not  be  looked  upon  with  a  favorable  eye  by  all 
parties ;  and  that  by  a  fate  which  some  would  consider 
fortunate,  but  which  I  would  have  always  avoided  if  it 
were  possible,  I  was  about  to  abandon  everything  which 
I  had  inherited  and  acquired,  and  with  which  my  child- 
ren would  have  been  enabled  to  live  independently, 
wherever  they  chose. 

Upon  my  accession  to  the  throne,  it  appeared  as  if 
all  dissensions  had  subsided  into  repose.  But  the  fire, 
though  latent,  continued  to  burn ;  the  different  parties, 
though  they  dissembled  for  a  short  time,  still  carried  on 
their  machinations ;  and  the  conduct  of  the  congress 
became  the  scandal  of  the  people.  I  repeatedly  re- 
ceived information  of  clandestine  meetings,  which  were 
held  by  several  deputies,  for  the  purpose  of  devising 
the  subversion  of  the  government — a  government,  be  it 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  115 

remembered,  that  was  sworn  to  by  the  w^hole  nation, 
which  solemn  act  was  performed  in  different  provinces 
solely  upon  the  intelligence  being  transmitted  through 
private  letters,  without  waiting  for  official  advices.  The 
conspirators  were  fully  aware  that  they  were  proceeding- 
in  direct  contradiction  to  the  general  will ;  and,  in  order 
to  have  a  pretext  for  their  treasons,  they  found  it  neces- 
sary to  propagate  a  report  that  I  was  desirous  of  becom- 
ing an  absolute  monarch.  Not  a  single  reason  did  they 
ever  allege  in  proof  of  such  an  accusation.  Indeed, 
how  could  they  bring  any  proof  against  one  who  twice 
refused  to  accept  the  crown  that  was  offered  him  ;  who, 
at  a  time  when  he  knew  no  rival  in  the  opinion  of  the 
people  or  army,  not  only  did  not  seek  to  preserve  the  un- 
limited power  which  he  had  obtained,  but  dismembered 
and  parted  with  it  ?  When  I  entered  Mexico,  my  will 
w^as  law  ;  I  commanded  the  public  forces  ;  the  tribunals 
possessed  no  attributes,  save  those  which  emanated  from 
my  authority.  Could  I  be  more  absolute  ?  And  who 
compelled  me  to  divide  my  power  ?  I,  and  I  alone ; 
because  I  considered  it  just.  Then^  at  least,  I  did  not 
wish  to  be  absolute  ;  could  I  have  desired  it  afterwards  ? 
How  can  they  reconcile  my  adoption  of  such  opposite 
extremes  ? 

The  true  cause  of  the  conduct  pursued  by  the  con- 
gress is  that  this  machine  was  set  in  motion  by  the 
impulse  received  from  its  directors ;  and  these  persons 
saw  with  secret  aversion,  that  I  achieved  the  independ- 
ence of  the  country,  without  the  assistance  of  any  one 
of  them ;  whereas  they  desired  that  everything  should 
be  ascribed  to  themselves.  Although  they  had  not  the 
resolution  to  act  in  the  season  of  peril,  they  sought  to 
render  themselves  conspicuous  by  deluding  the  multi- 
tude with  schoolboy  disputations,  and  by  setting  them- 


/ 


116         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

selves  up  as  sages  to  whom  the  ignorant  were  to  look 
up  with  reverential  respect ! 

In  the  meantime,  so  many  denunciations,  complaints, 
and  remonstrances,  reached  my  hands,  that  I  could  not 
avoid  attending  to  them,  both  because  the  public  tran- 
quillity and  safety  were  exposed  to  danger,  and  because 
documents  of  the  same  description  were  sent  to  me  by 
the  different  departments  of  government;  and  if  any 
misfortune  occurred  (and  misfortunes  of  the  most  for- 
midable kind  were  on  the  eve  of  happening),  I  should 
have  been  responsible  to  the  nation  and  the  world. 

I  resolved,  therefore,  on  proceeding  against  those 
who  were  implicated,  as  I  was  authorized  to  do  by  the 
attributes  which  I  possessed  ;  if  any  person  dispute  their 
extent,  he  may  see  them  defined  in  the  170th  article  of 
the  Spanish  constitution,  which  so  far  was  in  force.  On 
the  26th  of  August,  I  ordered  the  apprehension  of  the 
deputies  who  were  comprised  in  the  denunciations,  and 
charged  with  being  conspirators.  In  order  to  see  if  that 
charge  were  founded  on  circumstances  sufficient,  in 
point  of  law,  to  sustain  it,  and  whether  I  had  reason  to 
urge  me  to  take  a  step  which  has  been  called  violent  and 
despotic,  reference  must  be  made  to  the  report  of  the 
fiscal  of  tlie  suinaria^  which  was  approved  in  all  its  parts 
by  the  council  of  state. 

The  congress  demanded,  in  an  imperious  manner, 
that  the  deputies  should  be  given  up  to  them,  and 
required  to  be  informed  of  the  causes  of  their  detention, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  tried  by  the  tribunal  of 
cortes.  I  resisted  giving  them  up  until  the  suraaria 
was  concluded,  and  until  it  was  decided  by  what  tribu- 
nal they  were  to  be  tried.  I  could  not  agree  that  they 
should  be  sent  before  the  tribunal  just  mentioned,  which 
was  composed  of  individuals  of  the  congress,  who  were 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  H^ 

suspected  of  being  connected  with  the  conspiracy.  They 
were,  besides,  partial  members  of  an  assembly,  the  ma- 
jority of  which  was  in  bad  repute ;  and  which,  amongst 
other  proofs  of  its  bad  faith,  had  treated  with  indifference 
the  disclosures  which  I  had  made  to  it  on  the  3d  of 
April,  respecting  the  secret  manoeuvres  of  some  of  their 
own  body. 

The  interval,  until  the  30th  of  October,  was  spent  in 
mutual  contention.  At  that  period  the  discontent  of  the 
people  increased,  and  they  threatened  to  put  an  imme- 
diate end  to  their  sufferings  which  had  been  so  much 
abused ;  the  public  writers  repeated  their  invectives 
against  the  congress  with  more  vehemence  than  ever, 
and  the  provinces  refused  to  contribute  to  the  stipends 
of  delegates,  who  did  not  discharge  the  duties  intrusted 
to  them.  The  national  representation  had  already 
brought  itself  into  contempt,  by  its  apathy  in  all  that 
related  to  the  public  welfare,  by  its  activity  in  creating 
evils,  by  its  insufferable  insolence,  and  by  its  permitting 
some  of  its  members  to  maintain  in  public  sittings,  that 
no  respect  was  due  to  the  plan  of  Iguala,  or  the  treaty 
of  Cordova,  although  they  had  sworn  to  observe  both 
upon  their  admission  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  laws,  and 
although  those  documents  formed  the  basis  given  them 
by  their  constituents  for  the  guidance  of  their  conduct. 

They  endeavored  at  that  time  merely  to  depreciate 
the  plan  of  Iguala,  because  they  could  do  no  more, 
while  I  supported  it  as  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
people.  But  since  my  abdication,  they  have  not  been 
content  with  speaking  against  it ;  relying  on  a  mere 
sophism  they  have  annulled  one  of  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciples, and  under  the  pretence  of  doing  away  with  the 
invitation  given  to  the  Bourbons,  they  have  abolished 
the  limited  monarchy  altogether.     What  connexion  was 


118         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

there  between  one  and  the  other  ?  On  the  8th  of  April, 
1823,  the  congress  passed  a  decree,  in  which  they 
declared  that  tlie  plan  of  Iguala,  and  the  treaties  of  Cor- 
dova, ceased  to  have  force,  as  to  those  parts  which 
referred  to  the  form'  of  government,  and  the  calling  in 
of  the  Bourbons,  and  that  the  nation  was  fully  at  liberty 
to  constitute  itself.  In  fact,  those  documents  had 
already  ceased  to  have  force  as  to  that  portion  which 
the  congress  annulled,  relating  to  the  invitation  given  to 
the  Bourbons;  but  they  lost  their  effect  thus  far,  not 
because  such  was  the  will  of  the  people,  when  con- 
ferring their  powers  on  the  deputies,  but  because 
the  government  of  Madrid  did  not  choose  to  ratify  the 
treaty  signed  by  0  Donoju,  nor  to  accept  the  invita- 
tion which  the  Mexicans  freely  offered  to  that  family. 
It  was  not  competent  to  the  congress  to  say  that  at  no 
time  did  there  exist  any  right  to  bind  the  Mexican 
nation  by  any  law  or  treaty,  except  through  the  na- 
tion itself,  or  its  representatives.  For  although  the 
proposition,  taken  by  itself,  is  true,  it  is  false  if  it  be 
taken  with  reference  to  the  plan  of  Iguala  and  the  treaty 
of  Cordova ;  first,  because  both  were  the  expression  of 
the  general  will  of  the  Mexicans,  as  I  have  already  said, 
and  secondly,  because  the  powers  which  were  conferred 
on  the  deputies  as  well  as  their  oath,  were  founded  on 
the  principles,  and  supported  on  the  bases,  of  both 
these  documents.  They  were  instructed  by  their  con- 
stituents to  organize  the  government  of  the  empire,  as 
to  its  fundamental  bases,  conformably  to  the  plan  of 
Iguala,  and  the  treaty  of  Cordova.  If,  therefore,  these 
bases  were  not  conformable  to  what  the  public  right  of 
every  free  nation  requires,  whence  did  the  deputies 
derive  their  authority  to  create  a  congress,  and  whence 
could  such  a  body  have  received  its  attributes  of  legis- 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  119 

lation  ?  Numerous  are  the  decrees  of  that  assembly, 
which  evince  a  similar  absence  of  discernment.  They 
might  have  very  properly  said  that  the  invitation  given 
to  the  Bourbons  was  null,  because  those  princes  de- 
clined to  accept  it.  But  to  assert  that,  therefore,  the 
plan  of  Iguala  and  the  treaty  of  Cordova  were  null,  in 
every  part,  is  the  extreme  of  absurdity.  And  it  is  the 
extreme  of  ignorance  or  of  malice  to  add,  that  the 
legislative  body  could  not  be  bound  to  adhere  to  the 
basis  of  that  form  of  government,  which  was  considered 
most  expedient  by  those  who  gave  to  the  congress  its 
existence  as  a  congress.  If  that  assembly  had  known 
its  duty,  and  had  proceeded  with  honor  and  good  faith, 
it  would  have  respected  the  plan  of  Iguala  as  the  source 
of  its  own  authority,  and  the  foundation  of  the  edifice 
of  the  state.     But  it  took  an  opposite  course. 

For  such  an  abuse  of  their  authority  as  this,  no  palli- 
ation was  sufficient,  and  no  remedy  could  be  found. 
Such  a  congress  neither  could  nor  ought  to  continue. 
This  was  not  only  my  opinion,  but  that  of  every  one 
whom  I  consulted  on  the  subject,  particularly  of  a  meet- 
ing which  I  held  publicly  in  my  palace,  and  to  which  I 
summoned  such  persons  as  were  most  distinguished  by 
the  respectability  of  their  character,  the  ministers,  the 
council  of  state,  the  generals  and  other  superior  officers, 
and  seventy-two  deputies. 

On  the  30th  of  October,  I  transmitted  a  despatch  to 
the  president  of  the  congress  through  a  superior  officer, 
informing  him  that  that  body  had  ceased  to  exist,  and 
without  any  other  formality,  without  violence  or  further 
occurrence  of  any  sort,  the  congress  was  closed  at  noon 
on  that  day.  No  person  sympathized  with  them  in 
their  fall ;  on  the  contrary,  I  received  congratulations 
from  all  quarters,  and  in  consequence  of  this  proceed- 


120         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

ing  I  was  again  called  the  "  Liberator  of  Anahuac," 
and  "  the  father  of  the  people." 

In  order  that  a  body  so  respectable  by  its  institution 
should  not  be  entirely  wanting  to  its  duty,  and  lest  it 
should  be  supposed  that  I  arrogated  to  myself  the 
power  of  making  the  laws,  I  formed  the  same  day,  an 
assembly  which  I  called  the  "  Instituent  Junta,"  con- 
sisting of  members  of  the  congress,  and  selected  from 
all  the  provinces.  They  amounted  to  forty-five  in  num- 
ber, exclusive  of  eight  supplemental  deputies. 

All  of  these  had  been  elected  by  their  respective 
provinces,  and  for  all  the  provinces  there  were  represen- 
tatives. Their  duty  was  confined  to  the  formation  of  a 
new  convocatoria,  and  they  exercised  the  functions  of 
the  legislative  power  only  in  cases  of  urgent  necessity. 
They  understood  that  with  respect  to  the  convocatoria, 
they  were  to  avoid  those  defects  which  the  first  junta  of 
government  had  interwoven  in  it,  and  particularly  to 
attend  to  the  rights  of  the  people  to  whom  they  were  to 
leave  the  full  measure  of  their  liberty,  and  whom  they 
were,  at  the  same  time,  to  protect  as  much  as  possible 
from  the  intrigues  and  cabals  of  those  who  would  not 
hesitate  to  abuse  their  simplicity. 

Happily  so  far  my  measures  were  attended  with 
general  approbation,  and  I  also  received  congratulations 
on  the  installation  of  the  "  Instituent  Junta." 

At  this  period  the  empire  was  tranquil,  the  govern- 
ment was  actively  engaged  in  consoUdating  the  public 
prosperity,  and  our  interior  grievances  were  removed. 
It  only  remained  for  us  to  get  possession  of  the  castle 
of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  the  sole  point  which  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  Spaniards,  and  which  commanded 
Vera  Cruz ;  its  garrisons  were  relieved  by  troops  from 
the  Havana,  and   on  account  of  its  proximity  to  the 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  121 

island  of  Cuba,  it  offered  every  possible  advantage  to 
an  internal  enemy. 

The  Brigadier  Santa  Anna  commanded  the  fortress  of 
Vera  Cruz,  and  was  commandant-general  of  the  pro- 
vince, under  Echavarri,  who  was  its  captain-general. 
Both  of  these  had  instructions  relative  to  the  capture  of 
the  eastle ;  some  jealousies  arose  between  them  con- 
cerning their  respective  authority,  which  they  carried  to 
such  an  extreme,  that  the  former  attempted  to  have  the 
latter  assassinated  during  a  sortie  made  by  the  Spaniards ; 
for  which  purpose  he  had  so  well  concerted  his  mea- 
sures, that  Echavarri,  according  to  his  own  account, 
owed  his  life  to  the  bravery  of  a  dozen  soldiers,  and  to 
a  panic  which  seized  those  who  attacked  him.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  circumstance,  added  to  the  repeated 
complaints  against  Santa  Anna,  which  I  received  from  the 
former  captain-general,  from  the  provincial  deputation, 
from  the  consulate,  from  a  number  of  the  inhabitants, 
from  the  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  corps  which  he  com- 
manded, and  from  several  officers,  who  expressed  them- 
selves strongly  against  his  arbitrary  and  insolent  conduct 
as  a  governor,  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  divesting  him 
of  his  command.  I  had  conferred  it  upon  him,  because 
I  thought  he  possessed  valor ;  a  virtue  which  I  esteem 
in  a  soldier,  and  I  hoped  that  the  rank  in  which  I  had 
placed  him,  would  correct  his  defects,  with  which  I  was 
not  unacquainted.  I  also  hoped  that  experience,  and 
an  anxiety  not  to  displease  me,  would  have  brought 
him  to  reason.  I  confirmed  to  him  the  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant-colonel which  the  last  viceroy  had  given  him  by  mis- 
take, I  bestowed  on  him  the  cross  of  the  order  of  Gua- 
dalupe, I  gave  him  the  command  of  one  of  the  best 
regiments  in  the  army,  the  government  of  a  fortress  of 
the  greatest  importance  at  that  period,  the  appointment 


12^  MEXICO   AND   HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

of  brigadier  (con  letras),  and  made  him  the  second  chief 
of  the  province.  I  had  always  distinguished  him,  nor  did 
I  on  this  occasion  wish  that  he  should  be  disgraced.  I 
intimated  to  the  minister  that  the  order  of  recall  should 
be  framed  in  complimentary  terms,  and  accompanied 
by  another  summoning  him  to  court,  where  his  services 
were  required  for  the  execution  of  a  mission  which  be 
might  consider  as  a  promotion. 

All  this,  however,  was  not  sufficient  to  restrain  his 
volcanic  passions ;  he  felt  bitterly  offended,  and  deter- 
mined to  revenge  himself  on  the  individual  who  had 
heaped  benefits  upon  him.  He  flew  to  excite  an  explo- 
sion at  Vera  Cruz,  where  the  intelligence  of  his  having 
lost  his  command  had  not  yet  arrived,  and  where  a  great 
part  of  the  inhabitants  are  Spaniards,  who  exercise  great 
influence  on  account  of  their  wealth,  and  are  averse  to 
the  independence  of  the  country,  because  it  put  an  end 
to  that  exclusive  commerce  which  was  the  inexhaustible 
source  of  their  riches,  to  the  prejudice  of  other  nations, 
including  that  of  Mexico  itself,  from  which  they  de- 
manded and  obtained  such  prices  as  they  pleased. 
There  it  was  that  Santa  Anna  proclaimed  a  republic.  He 
flattered  the  officers  with  promotions,  he  deluded  the 
garrison  wath  promises,  he  took  the  respectable  portion 
of  the  inhabitants  by  surprise,  and  intimidated  the  neigh- 
boring towns  of  Alvarado  and  Antigua,  as  well  as  the 
people  of  color  in  the  adjacent  hamlets.  He  attempted 
also  to  surprise  the  town  of  Jalapa,  and  w^as  defeated 
with  the  loss  of  all  his  infantry  and  artillery,  and  the 
total  rout  of  his  cavalry,  who  saved  themselves  only 
by  the  fleetness  of  their  horses.  Whilst  Santa  Anna  w^as 
attacking  Jalapa,  the  towns  of  Alvarado  and  Antigua 
placed  themselves  again  under  the  protection  of  the 
government. 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  123 

This  was  the  proper  moment  for  putting  an  end  to 
the  rebellion,  and  punishing  the  traitor.  General  Echa- 
varri  and  Brigadier  Cortazar,  who  commanded  strong 
divisions,  and  had  been  directed  to  pursue  him,  might 
have  taken  the  fortress  of  Vera  Cruz  without  any  resist- 
ance ;  and  by  placing  themselves  between  it  and  Santa 
Anna,  might  have  captured  the  whole  of  the  remains  of 
the  cavalry  that  could  have  rallied ;  but  nothing  was 
done. 

The  affair  of  Jalapa  undeceived  those  w^ho  had  afforded 
any  credit  to  the  delusive  promises  of  Santa  Anna; 
he  was  now  shut  up  within  the  fortress  of  Vera  Cruz  and 
the  imperial  bridge,  a  position  truly  military  ;  which  was 
defended  by  two  hundred  mulattoes,  under  the  command 
of  Don  Guadalupe  Victoria.  Being  thus  confined  to  the 
fortress,  he  shipped  his  baggage  and  made  arrangements 
for  his  own  escape  by  sea,  as  well  as  for  that  of  such  of 
his  companions  as  were  committed  in  his  cause,  who 
were  all  prepared  to  fly  the  moment  they  should  be 
attacked. 

Although  the  apathy  of  Echavarri  should  have  been 
perhaps,  a  sufficient  cause  for  exciting  distrust  as  to  his 
fidelity,  it  was  not  so  wdth  me,  because  I  had  formed  the 
highest  opinion  of  him.  Echavarri  had  experienced 
from  me  the  greatest  proofs  of  friendship  ;  I  treated  him 
like  a  brother ;  I  had  raised  him  from  insignificance  in 
the  political  career  to  the  high  rank  which  he  enjoyed ; 
I  was  as  unreserved  with  him  as  if  he  w^re  my  son  ;  and 
it  pains  me  now  to  be  compelled  to  speak  of  him, 
because  his  actions  do  him  no  honor. 

I  gave  orders  for  the  siege  of  the  fortress,  I  autho- 
rized the  general  to  act  according  to  his  ow^n  discretion, 
on  such  occasions  as  he  deemed  necessary,  without 
waiting  for  instructions  from  the  government.     Troops, 


124  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

artillery,  provisions,  ammunition,  and  money,  were  sup- 
plied him  in  abundance,  the  garrison  was  dismayed ; 
the  officers  were  determined  to  fly ;  the  walls,  low  and 
feeble,  offered  every  facility  for  an  assault,  if  he  did  not 
wish  to  open  a  breach,  which  might  have  been  effected 
in  any  direction  in  the  course  of  an  hour.  Notwith- 
standing all  these  advantages,  only  a  few  skirmishes 
took  place,  and  the  siege  lasted  till  the  2d  of  February, 
when  the  convention  of  Casa  Mata  was  agreed  to ;  in 
consequence  of  which,  the  besiegers  and  the  besieged 
united  together  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  congress, 
the  only  object  which,  as  they  then  said,  they  had  in 
view. 

The  fault  which  I  think  I  committed  in  my  govern- 
ment was,  that  I  did  not  assume  the  command  of  the 
army  the  moment  I  had  reason  to  suspect  the  defection 
of  Echavarri.  I  deceived  myself  by  reposing  too 
much  confidence  in  others.  I  now  feel  that  to  a  states- 
man such  a  disposition  is  always  injurious,  because  it 
is  impossible  to  fathom  the  depth  to  which  the  perver- 
sity of  the  human  heart  descends. 

It  has  been  already  seen,  that  it  was  not  love  for  his 
country  which  actuated  Santa  Anna  in  raising  his  voice  for 
a  republic ;  let  the  world  judge  also,  if  it  was  the  feel- 
ing of  a  patriot  which  guided  the  conduct  of  Echavarri, 
knowing,  as  he  did,  that  at  that  period  commissioners 
had  arrived  at  San  Juan  de  Ulua  from  the  Spanish 
government,  for  the  purpose  of  pacifying  that  part  of 
America,  which  it  considered  to  be  in  a  state  of  rebel- 
lion. Echavarri  entered  into  a  correspondence  with 
them,  and  with  the  governor  of  the  castle ;  he  suddenly  for- 
got his  natural  resentment  against  Santa  Anna,  and  joined 
with  him  in  opinion ;  he  forgot  the  friendship  which  I 
had  shown  him ;  he  forgot  the  duty  which  he  owed  to 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  125 

the  Mexicans ;  he  forgot  even  his  honor,  in  order  to 
accept  the  system  of  a  man  who  was  not  only  his  public, 
but  his  personal,  enemy ;  and  by  entering  into  a  capitu- 
lation with  him,  though  at  the  time  in  command  of 
superior  numbers,  he  crowned  his  disgrace,  and  brought 
a  stain  upon  his  character,  which  no  lapse  of  time  can 
remove.  Can  it  be,  that  Echavarri,  remembering  his 
native  land,  wished  to  render  his  countrymen  such  a 
service,  as  might  expiate  his  former  conduct  ?  I  shall 
pass  no  judgment  upon  him.  Let  those  do  it  who  can- 
not be  charged  with  partiality. 

After  the  convention  of  CasaMata,  the  besiegers  and 
the  besieged  united,  and  rushed  like  a  torrent  over  the 
provinces  of  Vera  Cruz  and  Puebla,  without  paying  any 
regard  to  the  government,  or  the  least  respect  to  me, 
although  it  was  expressly  stipulated  that  a  copy  of  the 
convention  should  be  sent  to  me  by  a  commission. 
This  commission  was  reduced  to  one  officer,  who 
arrived  when  the  whole  army  was  in  motion,  and  when 
every  point  was  taken  possession  of,  which  the  time 
allowed,  without  waiting  to  know  if  I  wholly  or  partly 
approved,  or  rejected  that  convention.  It  was  also 
expressly  provided  in  that  act,  that  no  attempt  should  be 
made  against  my  person  or  authority. 

The  Marquis  de  Vivanco  commanded  the  provinces 
of  Puebla  ad  interim.  He  was  also  one  of  those  who 
had  experienced  my  favor.  He  never  was,  nor  ever 
can  be,  a  republican ;  he  abhorred  Santa  Anna  person- 
ally, and  he  was  hated  by  the  army  as  being  an  anti- 
independent,  and  on  account  of  a  certain  want  of  frank- 
ness in  his  character.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  Vivanco 
joined  the  rebels,  and  Puebla  refused  to  obey  the 
government. 

I  went  out  to  take  a  position  between  Mexico  and  the 


126  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

rebels,  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  them  without 
violence,  by  agreeing  to  everything  which  was  not  in- 
compatible wdth  the  public  good.  I  resolved  to  draw  a 
veil  over  the  past,  and  to  put  out  of  the  question  every- 
thing relating  personally  to  myself.  We  agreed  that  a 
new  congress  should  be  convened,  the  convocatoria  for 
which  had  been  already  settled  on  the  8th  of  December, 
by  the  instituent  junta,  and  was  printed  and  about  to  be 
issued.  Limits  were  fixed  to  the  troops  on  both  sides, 
and  it  was  stipulated  that  they  should  remain  within 
their  lines,  until  the  national  representation  should  meet 
and  decide  the  question,  all  parties  agreeing  to  submit 
to  its  determination.  Such  was  the  agreement  entered 
into  with  the  commissioners  whom  I  had  sent  for  that 
purpose  ;  but  those  on  the  other  side  violated  the  stipu- 
lations into  which  they  had  entered,  by  despatching 
emissaries  to  the  provinces,  for  the  purpose  of  persuading 
them  to  abide  by  the  Act  of  Casa  Mata.  Several  of 
the  provincial  deputations  did  accede  to  it ;  but  at  the 
same  moment  that  they  did  so,  they  expressed  a  resolu- 
tion to  respect  my  person,  and  to  resist  any  attempt  that 
might  be  made  against  me,  notwithstanding  the  arts  and 
menaces  which  were  used  in  order  to  change  the  current 
of  their  feelings. 

It  has  been  said  that  I  wished  to  assume  absolute 
power ;  I  have  already  demonstrated  the  falsehood  of 
this  charge.  I  have  been  accused,  also,  of  enriching 
myself  from  the  public  treasury,  although  at  this  mo- 
ment I  have  no  other  dependence  than  the  property 
which  has  been  assigned  to  me  ;  and  if  there  be  any 
man  who  knows  that  I  have  funds  in  any  foreign  bank, 
I  hereby  cede  them  to  him,  that  he  may  make  such  use 
of  them  as  he  thinks  fit. 

The  best  proof  that  I  have  not  enriched  myself,  is 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  127 

that  I  am  not  rich ;  I  have  by  no  means  so  much  as  I 
possessed  when  I  undertook  to  estabhsh  the  independ- 
ence of  my  country.  I  not  only  did  not  misapply  the 
public  funds,  but  I  have  not  even  received  from  the 
treasury  the  sums  which  were  granted  to  me.  The  first 
junta  of  provisional  government  made  an  order,  that  a 
million  of  dollars  should  be  paid  to  me  out  of  the  pro- 
perty of  the  extinct  inquisition,  and  also  assigned  to  me 
twenty  square  leagues  of  territory  in  the  inland  pro- 
vinces. I  have  not  received  from  these  resources  a 
single  real.  The  congress  passed  a  decree  that  all  my 
expenses  should  be  supplied  by  the  treasury  to  whatever 
extent  I  should  require,  and  the  instiutent  junta  granted 
me  an  annual  income  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars. 
I  received  no  more  than  was  barely  necessary  for  my 
subsistence,  and  this  was  drawn  in  small  sums  by  my 
steward,  every  four  or  six  days,  preferring  always  the 
exigencies  of  the  state  to  my  own  and  those  of  my 
family.  I  may  mention  another  circumstance,  which 
shows  that  self-interest  is  not  my  passion.  When  the 
instituent  junta  granted  me  the  annuity  of  a  million  and 
a  half  of  dollars,  I  appropriated  the  third  part  of  that 
sum  to  the  formation  of  a  bank,  which  might  contribute 
to  the  encouragement  and  assistance  of  the  mining  trade, 
a  principal  branch  of  industry  in  that  country,  but  which 
had  gone  to  ruin  in  consequence  of  the  late  convulsions. 
Regulations  for  the  institution  were  drawn  up  by  indi- 
viduals experienced  in  the  subject,  and  specially  com- 
missioned for  the  purpose. 

As  little  did  I  enrich  any  of  my  relatives  by  giving 
them  lucrative  employments.  I  listened  to  no  private 
influence  ;  those  who  obtained  official  situations  through 
me,  obtained  them  as  matter  of  justice  in  the  scale  of 
promotion,  or  through  the  consequences  of  the  revolu- 


128  MEXICO   AND   HER  MILITARY   CfflEITAINS. 

lion,  according  to  the  rank  in  which  they  stood  when 
the  government  was  changed,  without  their  situation 
being  at  all  improved  by  my  elevation  to  the  throne. 

It  has  been  said  that  I  acted  arbitrarily  by  imprison- 
ing some  of  the  deputies  of  congress,  and  afterwards 
suspending  it.  To  this  charge  I  have  already  answered. 
It  has  been  alleged,  too,  that  I  paid  no  respect  to  pro- 
perty, because  I  made  use  of  the  convoy  of  specie, 
amounting  to  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
which  left  Mexico,  bound  for  the  Havana,  in  October, 
1822.  At  that  time  the  congress  had  been  strongly 
pressed  by  the  government  to  supply  the  means  for 
meeting  the  exigencies  of  the  state,  and  it  gave  me 
authority  to  appropriate  to  that  purpose  any  existing 
fund.  It  informed  me  privately,  through  some  of  its 
members,  that  in  adopting  this  measure,  it  had  particu- 
larly in  view  the  convoy  in  question ;  but  that  it  had 
made  no  allusion  to  it  in  the  decree,  because  the  pro- 
mulgation of  that  document  would  warn  the  proprietors 
to  abstract  their  respective  shares,  before  the  necessary 
orders  could  be  issued.  There  were  no  means  for  the 
support  of  the  army  ;  the  public  functionaries  were  with- 
out pay ;  all  the  public  funds  were  exhausted  ;  no  loan 
could  be  obtained  at  home  ;  and  those  resources  which 
might  be  solicited  from  abroad,  required  more  time  than 
the  urgency  of  the  moment  could  allow.  At  that  period 
a  treaty  was  pending  for  a  loan  from  England,  and  the 
negotiations  had  every  appearance  of  a  successful  issue ; 
but  they  could  not  be  concluded  within  five  or  six 
months  at  the  least,  and  the  necessities  of  the  state  were 
too  pressing  to  be  postponed. 

At  the  same  time,  impressed  as  I  always  have  been 
with  the  deep  sense  of  the  sacredness  of  private  property, 
I  should  never  have  acceded  to  the  wishes  of  the  con- 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  129 

grees,  if  I  had  not  had  good  reason  to  believe  that  specie 
was  remitted  in  that  convoy  for  the  Spanish  government 
under  fictitious  names,  and  that  almost  the  whole  of  it 
was  intended  for  the  Peninsula,  where  it  would  indispu- 
tably contribute  to  support  the  party  which  was  opposed 
to  the  Mexicans.  I  trust  that  this  will  sufficiently  appear 
to  have  been  my  view  of  the  transaction,  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  all  foreigners  who  could  prove  any  part 
of  those  funds  to  belong  to  them,  immediately  obtained 
an  order  from  me  for  its  restitution.  But  even  suppos- 
ing (which,  however,  I  cannot  concede),  that  it  was 
wrong  to  seize  the  above-mentioned  funds,  to  whom  is  the 
error  to  be  attributed  ?  Is  it  to  be  ascribed  to  me,  who 
had  no  authority  to  levy  contributions  or  loans,  or  to  the 
congress,  which,  in  a  period  of  eight  months,  had 
arranged  no  system  of  revenue,  nor  formed  any  plan  of 
finance?  Is  it  to  be  imputed  to  me,  who  could  not 
avoid  executing  a  peremptory  law,  or  to  the  congress 
which  dictated  it? 

The  act  of  Casa  Mata  fully  justified  my  conduct  in 
August  and  October,  with  respect  to  the  congress.  The 
last  revolution  has  only  been  the  result  of  the  plans 
which  were  then  formed  by  the  conspirators.  They 
have  not  adopted  a  single  step  that  varies  from  the 
sumaria,  which  was  taken  at  that  time.  The  places 
where  the  cry  of  insurrection  was  first  to  be  raised,  the 
troops  who  were  most  deeply  committed  in  the  plot,  the 
persons  who  were  to  direct  the  revolution,  the  manner 
in  which  I  and  my  family  were  to  be  disposed  of,  the 
decrees  to  be  passed  by  congress,  the  kind  of  govern- 
ment which  was  to  be  established,  all  are  to  be  found 
enumerated  in  the  declarations  and  results  of  the  suma- 
ria.  Neither  the  imprisonment  of  the  deputies,  nor  the 
9 


130  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

reform  of  the  congress,  nor  the  seizure  of  the  convoY, 
were  the  true  causes  of  the  late  revolution. 

I  repeatedly  solicited  a  private  interview  wifti  the 
principal  dissenting  chiefs,  without  being  able  to  obtain 
anything  more  than  one  answer  in  a  private  note  from 
Echavarri.  Their  guilt  prevented  them  from  facing  me  ; 
their  ingratitude  confounded  them.  They  despaired  of 
receiving  indulgence  from  me  (which  was  another 
proof  of  their  weakness),  although  they  were  not  igno- 
rant that  I  was  always  ready  to  pardon  my  enemies,  and 
that  I  never  availed  myself  of  my  public  authority  to 
avenge  personal  wrongs. 

The  events  which  occurred  at  Casa  Mata  united  the 
republican  and  the  Bourbon  parties,  who  never  could 
agree  but  for  the  purpose  of  opposing  me.  It  was  as  well, 
therefore,  that  they  should  take  off  the  mask  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  make  themselves  known,  which  could  not 
have  happened  if  I  had  not  given  up  my  power.  I  reas- 
sembled the  congress,  I  abdicated  the  crown,  and  I  re- 
quested permission,  through  the  minister  of  relations,  to 
exile  myself  from  my  native  country. 

I  surrendered  my  power,  because  I  was  already  free 
from  the  obligations  which  irresistibly  compelled  me  to 
accept  it.  The  country  did  not  want  my  services 
against  foreign  enemies,  because  at  that  time  it  had 
none.  As  to  her  domestic  foes,  far  from  being  useful 
in  resisting  them,  my  presence  might  have  proved  rather 
prejudicial  to  her  than  otherwise,  because  it  might  have 
been  used  as  a  pretext  for  saying  that  war  was  made 
against  my  ambition,  and  it  might  have  furnished  the 
parties  with  a  motive  for  prolonging  the  concealment  of 
their  political  hypocrisy.  I  did  not  abdicate  from  a 
sense  of  fear ;  I  know  all  my  enemies,  and  what  they 
are  able  to  do.     With  no  more  than  eight  hundred  men 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  131 

I  undertook  to  overthrow  the  Spanish  government  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  continent,  at  a  moment  when  it 
possessed  all  the  resources  of  a  long-established  govern- 
ment, the  whole  revenue  of  the  country,  eleven  European 
expeditionary  regiments,  seven  veteran  regiments,  and 
seventeen  provincial  regiments  of  natives,  which  were 
considered  as  equal  to  troops  of  the  line,  and  seventy  or 
eighty  thousand  royalists,  who  had  firmly  opposed  the 
progress  of  Hidalgo's  plot.  Had  I  been  actuated  by 
fear,  would  I  have  exposed  myself  to  the  danger  of 
assassination,  as  I  did,  by  divesting  myself  of  every 
means  of  defence? 

Nor  was  I  influenced  in  my  resignation  by  an  appre- 
hension that  I  had  lost  anything  in  the  good  opinion  of 
the  people,  or  in  the  affection  of  the  soldiers.  I  well 
knew  that  at  my  call  the  majority  of  them  would  join 
the  brave  men  who  were  already  with  me,  and  the  few 
who  might  waver  would  either  imitate  their  example, 
after  the  first  action,  or  be  defeated.  I  had  the  greater 
reason  to  depend  on  the  principal  towns,  because  they 
had  themselves  consulted  me  with  respect  to  the  line  of 
conduct  which  they  ought  to  pursue  under  the  circum- 
stances of  the  moment,  and  had  declared  that  they  would 
do  no  more  than  obey  my  orders,  which  were  that  they 
should  remain  quiet,  as  tranquillity  was  most  conducive 
to  their  interests  as  well  as  to  my  reputation.  The  me- 
morials from  the  towns  will  be  found  in  the  ministry  of 
state  and  the  captaincy-general  of  Mexico,  together  with 
my  answers,  which  were  all  in  favor  of  peace  and  against 
bloodshed. 

My  love  for  my  country  led  me  first  to  Iguala,  it 
induced  me  to  ascend  the  throne  and  to  descend  again 
from  so  dangerous  an  elevation ;  and  I  have  not  yet 
repented  either  of  resigning  the  sceptre  or  having  pro- 


132         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

ceeded  as  I  have  done.  I  have  left  the  land  of  my  birth 
after  having  obtained  for  it  the  greatest  of  blessings,  in 
order  to  remove  to  a  distant  country,  where  I  and  a  large 
family,  delicately  brought  up,  must  exist  as  strangers, 
and  without  any  other  resources  than  those  which  I  have 
already  mentioned ;  together  with  a  pension,  upon  which 
no  man  would  place  much  dependence,  who  knows 
what  revolutions  are,  and  is  acquainted  with  the  state  in 
which  I  left  Mexico. 

There  will  not  be  wanting  persons  who  will  charge 
me  with  a  want  of  foresight,  and  with  weakness  in  rein- 
stating a  congress,  of  whose  defects  I  was  aware,  and 
the  members  of  which  will  always  continue  to  be  my 
determined  enemies.  My  reason  for  so  acting  was  this, 
that  I  should  leave  in  existence  some  acknowledged 
authority,  because  the  convocation  of  another  congress 
would  have  required  time,  and  circumstances  did  not 
admit  of  any  delay.  Had  I  taken  any  other  course, 
anarchy  would  inevitably  have  ensued,  upon  the  differ- 
ent parties  shovs-ing  themselves,  and  the  result  would 
have  been  the  dissolution  of  the  state.  It  was  my  wish 
to  make  this  last  sacrifice  for  my  country. 

To  this  same  congress  I  preferred  a  request  that  it 
would  fix  the  place  where  it  wished  me  to  reside,  and 
select  such  troops  as  it  might  think  proper  to  form  the 
escort  that  was  to  attend  me  to  the  place  of  embarkation. 
It  fixed  on  a  point  in  the  bay  of  Mexico  for  my  embarka- 
tion, and  gave  me  for  escort  five  hundred  men,  whom  I 
wished  to  be  taken  from  among  those  that  had  seceded 
from  their  allegiance  to  me,  and  to  be  commanded  by 
the  Brigadier  Bravo,  whom  I  also  selected  from  my 
opponents,  in  order  to  con\"ince  them  that  he  who  now 
surrendered  his  arms,  and  placed  himself  in  the  hands 
of  those  persons  whose  treachery  he  had  already  expe- 


DON    AUGUSTINO  'iTURBIDE.  133 

rienced,  had  not  avoided  meeting  them  in  the  field 
through  any  personal  fear. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  my  departure  from  Mexico,  the 
people  prevented  me  from  leaving  it.  When  the  army 
calling  itself  (for  w^hat  reason  it  knew  not)  the  liberating 
army,  made  its  entry,  there  were  none  of  those  demon- 
strations which  usually  evince  a  favorable  reception. 
The  superior  officers  were  obliged  to  post  the  troops 
through  the  capital,  and  to  plant  artillery  at  the  princi- 
pal approaches.  In  the  towns  through  which  I  passed, 
(which  were  but  a  few,  as  it  was  so  managed  that  I 
should  be  conducted  with  as  much  privacy  as  possible 
from  one  hacienda  to  another),  I  was  received  with  ring- 
ing of  bells,  and  notwithstanding  the  harshness  with 
which  they  were  treated  by  my  escort,  the  inhabitants 
crowded  anxiously  to  see  me,  and  to  bestow  upon  me 
the  most  sincere  proofs  of  their  attachment  and  respect. 

After  my  departure  from  Mexico,  the  new  govern- 
ment was  obliged  to  resort  to  force  in  order  to  prevent 
the  people  from  crying  out  my  name ;  and  when  the 
Marquis  of  Vivanco,  as  general- in-chief,  harangued  the 
troops  whom  I  lefi;  at  Tacubaya,  he  had  the  dissatisfac- 
tion to  hear  them  shout,  "  Live  Agustin  the  First !"  and 
to  see  that  they  listened  to  his  address  with  contempt. 
These,  and  a  thousand  other  incidents  which  might 
appear  too  trifling  if  they  were  particularized,  fully 
demonstrate  that  it  was  not  the  general  will  which 
effected  my  separation  from  the  supreme  command. 

I  had  already  said  that  the  moment  I  should  discover 
that  my  continuance  at  the  head  of  affairs  tended  to 
interrupt  the  public  tranquillity,  I  should  cheerfully 
descend  from  the  throne ;  and  that  if  the  nation  should 
choose  a  form  of  government  which  in  my  view  might 
be  prejudicial,  I  would  not  contribute  to  its  establish- 


134         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CmEFTAlNS. 

ment,  because  it  is  not  consistent  with  my  principles  to 
act  contrary  to  what  I  think  conducive  to  the  general 
welfare.  But  on  the  other  hand,  I  added,  that  I  would 
not  oppose  it,  and  that  my  only  alternative  w^ould  be  to 
abandon  my  country.  I  said  this  in  October,  1821,  to 
the  first  junta  of  government;  and  I  repeated  it  fre- 
quently to  the  congress,  to  the  instituent  junta,  to 
the  troops,  and  to  several  individuals,  both  in  private 
and  in  public.  The  case  for  which  I  had  provided 
arrived ;  I  complied  wdth  my  word,  and  I  have  only  to 
thank  my  enemies  for  having  afforded  me  an  opportu- 
nity of  unequivocally  showing  that  my  language  was 
always  in  unison  with  my  intentions. 

The  greatest  sacrifice  which  I  made,  has  been  that 
of  abandoning  for  ever  a  country  so  dear  to  my  heart, 
which  still  retains  an  idohzed  father  whose  advanced 
age  rendered  it  impossible  to  bring  him  with  me,  a 
sister  whom  I  cannot  think  of  without  regret,  and  kins- 
men, and  many  a  friend  who  were  the  companions  of 
my  infancy  and  youth,  and  whose  converse  formed  in 
better  days  the  happiness  of  my  life ! 

Mexicans!  this  production  will  reach  your  hands. 
Its  principal  object  is  to  show  you  that  your  best  friend 
has  never  deceived  the  affection  and  confidence  which 
you  prodigally  bestowed  upon  him.  My  gratitude  to 
you  shall  cease  only  wuth  my  latest  breath.  When  you 
instruct  your  children  in  the  history  of  our  common 
country,  tell  them  betimes  to  think  with  kindness  of  the 
first  Chief  of  the  army  of  the  Three  Guarantees ;  and 
if  by  any  chance  my  children  should  stand  in  need  of 
your  protection,  remember  that  their  father  spent  the  best 
season  of  his  life  in  laboring  for  your  welfare !  Receive 
my  last  adieus,  and  may  every  happiness  await  you! 

At  my  country-house  in  the  vicinity  of  | 
Leghorn,  27th  of  September.  1823.    ) 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  135 


POSTSCRIPT. 


Not  having  been  allowed,  as  I  had  intended,  to  print 
this  work  in  Tuscany,  the  time  that  has  elapsed  since  I 
finished  it,  has  afforded  me  an  opportunity  to  observe 
that  the  events  which  have  taken  place  in  Mexico,  since 
my  departure,  fully  confirm  everything  which  I  have 
said  wdth  respect  to  the  congress.  It  has  been  seen 
endeavoring  to  prolong  the  term  of  its  functions,  in 
order  to  engross  all  the  different  branches  of  power,  and 
to  form  a  constitution  according  to  its  own  pleasure  ;  a 
proceeding  inconsistent  with  the  limited  authority  W'hich 
has  been  delegated  to  it,  and  demonstrative  of  its  con- 
tempt for  the  public  voice,  and  for  the  decisive  repre- 
sentations addressed  to  it  from  the  provinces,  desiring 
that  it  should  confine  itself  to  the  formation  of  a  new 
convocatoria.  Hence,  it  has  happened  that  the  pro- 
vinces, in  order  to  force  the  congress  to  compliance, 
have  taken  such  strong  steps  as  even  with  force  of  arms 
to  refuse  to  obey  its  ordinances,  and  those  of  the 
government  which  it  has  created.  This  fact  is  an  une- 
quivocal proof  of  the  bad  opinion  which  the  people 
entertain  of  the  majority  of  the  deputies.  A  new  con- 
gress necessarily  requires  time  and  expense ;  and,  there- 
fore, it  may  be  inferred,  that  the  people  never  w^ould 
have  adopted  the  idea  of  forming  such  a  congress,  if 
they  looked  upon  the  majority  of  the  present  deputies 
as  wise,  temperate,  and  virtuous  legislators,  or  if  the 
proceedings  of  those  deputies,  since  their  reinstatement 
in  the  sanctuary  of  the  laws,  had  been  conformable  to 
the  general  welfare,  instead  of  being  subservient  to  their 
own  ambitious  and  sinister  designs. 

London.  January,  1824. 


336  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

The  new  congress  passed  an  act  annulling  the  corona- 
tion of  Iturbide,  the  acts  of  his  government,  and  several  of 
the  decrees  of  the  former  congress.  It  also  settled  upon 
him  during  life  a  pension  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
per  annum,  provided  that  he  should  take  up  and  continue 
his  residence  in  some  part  of  Italy,  and  upon  his  family, 
after  his  death,  unconditionally,  the  sum  of  eighteen 
thousand  dollars  annually.  This  condition,  unfortu- 
nately for  him,  he  did  not  keep  ;  his  partisans  encouraged 
him  to  return  and  head  them  ;  imitating  Napoleon,  he 
complied  with  the  invitation,  and  leaving  Europe 
secretly,  he  landed  at  Soto  la  Marina,  on  the  8th  of 
July,  1824.  Here  he  terminated  his  life,  like  Murat, 
having  been  immediately  arrested  by  the  authorities  and 
shot. 

On  the  14th  of  November,  1824,  Count  Charles  de 
Beneski,  a  Polish  exile,  who  had  long  been  attached  to 
Iturbide,  and  who  seems  really  to  have  borne  towards 
him  the  same  devotion  Poniatowski  entertained  to  Napo- 
leon, published  in  New  York  an  account  of  the  last  mo- 
ments of  the  ex-emperor,  and  of  the  conduct  of  Garza, 
who  betrayed  him  to  his  enemies,  and  also  seemed  to 
tantalize  the  unhappy  man  with  alternate  depressions  and 
exaltations  of  hope  in  a  manner  altogether  unworthy  of 
a  gentleman  and  a  soldier.  At  one  period  of  the  march 
from  Soto  la  Marina  to  the  seat  of  the  congress,  the 
whole  escort  absolutely  pronounced  in  favor  of  Iturbide, 
though  but  a  few  hours  afterwards  he  was  a  close  priso- 
ner. 

After  his  execution  the  body  was  followed  to  the 
grave  by  the  congress,  which  had  ordered  him  shot,  and 
he  was  mourned  by  them  as  a  public  benefactor. 

One  of  two  things  is  undeniable,  either  Iturbide  was 
a  patriot,  and  his  execution  was  altogether  unjustifiable, 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  137 

or  he  was  a  traitor,  and  did  not  deserve  better.  In 
either  case  the  congress  was  wrong. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Iturbide  landed  without 
arms  from  a  peaceful  vessel,  and  that  the  decree  by 
virtue  of  which  he  was  executed,  had  been  passed 
during  his  absence  and  never  been  imparted  to  him. 

He  died  like  a  brave  man,  receiving  two  balls  in  his 
head,  and  two  in  that  breast  which  he  maintained  had 
ever  beat  with  hope  and  love  for  his  country ;  and  when 
we  look  over  the  long  array  of  Mexican  rulers,  we  can- 
not find  one  w^ho  had  done  so  much  good  for  his  coun- 
try and  so  little  harm.  The  idea  that  Mexico  is  capable 
of  self-government  has  long  been  exploded,  and  should 
it  happen  that  God  in  his  wTath  send  her  a  king  (and 
such,  in  fact,  are  all  her  presidents  and  dictators),  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  it  would  be  better  for  herself 
and  her  neighbors,  that  this  monarch  should  be  one  of  her 
own  children,  than  a  member  of  the  exhausted  Spanish 
Bourbon  family. 

Iturbide  would  have  governed  Mexico  ably.  He 
knew  the  wants  of  his  country,  her  great  men,  her 
vices,  and  her  virtues,  and  had  he  lived,  history  would 
probably  have  known  no  Santa  Anna,  no  Alaman  or 
Ampudia.  The  Mexican  flag  w^ould  now  have  been  re- 
spectable, and  not  have  been  looked  upon  as  the  equal  of 
the  robber  states  of  Barbary,  to  be  restrained  within  the 
bounds  of  national  law  by  fear  alone. 

He  seems  to  have  foreseen  all  that  happened  at  Soto 
la  Marina  before  he  left  Italy,  and  under  that  feeling  to 
have  written  the  following  letter  to  his  friend  and  soli- 
citor : 

"  My  dear  Sir, — It  is  probable  that  as  soon  as  my 
departure  is  known,  different  opinions  may  be  express- 
ed, and  that  some  of  them  may  be  falsely  colored.     1 


138         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

wish,  therefore,  that  you  should  know  the  truth  in  an 
authentic  manner. 

"  By  a  misfortune  that  is  much  to  be  deplored,  the 
principal  provinces  of  Mexico  are  at  this  moment  dis- 
united ;  all  those  of  Goatemala,  New  Galicia,  Oajaca, 
Yacatecas,  Queretaro,  and  others,  sufficiently  attest  this 
fact. 

"  Such  a  state  of  things  exposes  the  independence 
of  the  country  to  extreme  peril.  Should  she  lose  it,  she 
must  live  for  ages  to  come  in  frightful  slavery. 

"  My  return  has  been  solicited  by  different  parts  of 
the  country,  which  consider  me  necessary  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  unanimity  there  and  to  the  consolidation  of 
the  government.  I  do  not  presume  to  form  such  an 
opinion  of  myself;  but  as  I  am  assured  that  it  is  in  my 
power  to  contribute  in  a  great  degree  to  the  amalgama- 
tion of  the  separate  interests  of  the  provinces,  and  to 
tranquillize  in  part  those  angry  passions  which  are  sure 
to  lead  to  the  most  disastrous  anarchy,  I  go  with  such 
an  object  before  me,  uninfluenced  by  any  other  ambition 
than  the  glory  of  effecting  the  happiness  of  my  country- 
men, and  of  discharging  those  obligations  which  I  owe 
to  the  land  of  my  birth — obligations  which  have  re- 
ceived additional  force  from  the  event  of  her  indepen- 
dence. When  I  abdicated  the  crown  of  Mexico,  I 
did  so  with  pleasure,  and  my  sentiments  remain  un- 
changed. 

"  If  I  succeed  in  realizing  my  plan  to  the  extent 
which  I  desire,  Mexico  will  soon  present  a  government 
consolidated,  and  a  people  acting  upon  one  opinion, 
and  co-operating  in  the  same  object.  They  will  all 
recognise  those  burdens,  which,  if  the  present  govern- 
ment continued,  would  only  fall  upon  a  few ;  and  the 
mining  and  commercial  transactions  of  the  country  will 


DON    AUGUSTINO    ITURBIDE.  139 

assume  an  energy  and  a  firmness  of  which  they  are  now 
deprived.     In  anarchy  nothing  is  secure. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  English  nation,  which 
knows  how  to  think,  will  easily  infer  from  this  statement 
the  probable  political  situation  of  Mexico. 

t'  I  conclude  with  again  recommending  to  your  atten- 
tions my  children,  in  my  separation  from  whom  will  be 
seen  an  additional  proof  of  the  real  sentiments  which 
animate  the  heart  of  your  very  sincere  friend, 

AGUSTIN  DE  YTURBIDE. 
"Michael  Joseph  Quin,  Esq.,  Grayh  Inn.'''' 

Count  de  Beneski  was  tried  afterwards  for  participat- 
ing in  the  schemes  which  induced  Iturbide  to  return,  but 
was  acquitted,  and  but  lately  resided  in  Mexico  in  high 
repute  and  esteem.  If  Iturbide  deserved  death,  Be- 
neski should  have  shared  his  fate.  Mexico  now  honors 
the  latter ;  why  then  was  Iturbide  executed  ? 

The  family  of  Iturbide  have  for  some  years  resided 
in  the  cities  of  Washington  and  Philadelphia,  and  won 
popularity  and  universal  esteem.  One  of  his  sons  has, 
we  believe,  returned  to  Mexico,  and  is  at  this  time  a 
colonel  of  cavalry,  and  has  the  reputation  of  having 
inherited  his  father's  courage  as  well  as  his  name. 

The  Spanish  troops  had  been  removed  during  the 
reign  of  Iturbide  from  the  republic,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  who  continued  to  hold  out  the  strong  castle  of 
San  Juan  de  Ulua,  situated  in  the  sea,  within  six  hundred 
yards  of  Vera  Cruz.  Here  they  remained,  obstinately 
refusing  to  depart  or  to  surrender,  until  the  20th  of 
December,  1825,  when  they  evacuated  the  fortress,  to 
the  great  relief  of  the  citizens  of  the  place,  which  lay 
under  their  guns. 

After  the  abdication  of  Iturbide,  the  executive  power 


140  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

was  confined  to  a  commission  of  three,  until  a  constitu- 
tion  could    be   provided   by   a   competent   assembly. 
After  some  time,  this  was  effected,  and,  on  the  4th  of 
October,  1824,  a  constitution,  framed  almost  entirely 
upon   that   of   the   basis   of   the   United   States,   was 
solemnly  proclaimed  ;  the  Catholic  religion  was,  how- 
ever, supported  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  and  there 
was  no  trial  by  jury.     The  territory  was  divided  into 
nineteen  states  and  four  territories,  corresponding  nearly 
in  names   and  limits  with  the  intendendes  under   the 
Spanish  regime ;  the  general  legislature  was  composed 
of  two  chambers,  constituted  nearly  like  those  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  chief  executive  power  was  com- 
mitted to  a  president,  chosen  for   four   years   by  the 
entire  majority  of  the  states  ;  during  whose  absence  or 
inability,  a  vice-president  was  charged  with  the  same 
duties.     In  the  election  of  these  chief  officers,  the  can- 
'didate  having  the   greatest  number  of  votes  after  the 
president,  became  vice-president.     In  the  first  election, 
General  Victoria   was   made    president,   and   General 
Bravo   vice-president.      These    appointments  were   in 
every  respect  unfortunate.     Victoria  and  Bravo,  though 
active   and   persevering  as   leaders  of  guerillas,   were 
totally  unfit  to  guide  the  concerns  of  a  state  ;  they  were 
both  men  of  moderate  capacity,  uneducated,  and  unac- 
quainted  with  any   other  than  the   simplest   relations 
between  the  governors  and  the  governed.     Moreover, 
they  had  long  been  rivals,  and  the  mode   of  their  elec- 
tion only  served  to  excite  jealousy  and  mistrust.     Fears 
of  such  results  were  entertained   at  the  time  of  their 
election,  and  were  afterguards  fully  confirmed. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MEXICAN  REPUBLIC. 

Recognition  by  the  United  States  of  the  independence  of  the 
revolted  colonies  of  Spain — Congress  of  Panama — Mr.  Poin- 
sett plenipotentiary  to  Mexico — Treaty  of  alliance  and  com- 
merce— Boundary  question — Victoria  president  —  Influence 
of  Masonry  on  politics — Triumph  of  the  Yorkino  party. 

We  have  heretofore  only  incidentally  noticed  the  con- 
nexion of  the  United  States  with  the  Mexican  revolution, 
as  it  had  had  but  little  influence  on  the  contest.  While 
Ferdinand  was  a  prisoner,  there  had  been  no  communi- 
cation between  the  Union  and  any  of  the  rival  autho- 
rities. An  attempt  to  procure  the  recognition  of  Joseph 
Bonaparte  failed  before  Congress  in  1809,  while  on  the 
other  hand,  Don  Jose  de  Onis,  the  agent  of  the  central 
junta,  was  never  recognised  in  tJiat  capacity.  The 
earthquake  at  Caraccas,  and  the  offer  of  food  by  the 
nation,  afforded  an  opportunity  of  indirect  intercourse, 
and  eclaireurs  were  sent  to  Chili,  La  Plata,  Venezuela, 
&c.,  at  different  times. 

In  1818,  a  proposition  was  officially  made  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  that  of  Great  Britain, 
for  a  concerted  and  provisional  acknowledgment  of  the 
independence  of  La  Plata;  it  was  declined,  and  is 
believed  to  have  given  offence  to  the  sovereigns  assem- 
bled in  conference  at  Aix  la  Chapelle.  Public  opinion, 
however,  grew  stronger  in  the  United  States  in  favor  of  the 
patriots  of  Spanish  America,  being  daily  increased  by  the 
details  of  the  horrible  proceedings  of  Morillo  and  the 
other  monsters  in  Colombia,  and  by  the  seizure  of  the 


142         MEXICO   AND   HER  MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

vessels  of  the  United  States  on  the  coast  of  that  country  in 
virtue  of  the  pretended  blockade.  Many  attempts  were 
also  made  in  Congress,  particularly  by  Mr.  Henry  Clay, 
to  procure  a  public  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
those  portions  of  the  southern  continent  from  which  the 
Spaniards  had  been  expelled.  At  length,  on  the  8th  of 
March,  1822,  President  Monroe,  in  a  message  to  the 
national  legislature,  declared  his  conviction,  tliat  the 
United  States  could  not  consistently,  with  justice  or  with 
policy,  longer  delay  the  commencement  of  relations  with 
these  countries,  as  they  were  de  facto  free  from  the 
authority  of  their  former  European  rulers.  On  the  day 
after  this  message  had  been  sent,  the  Spanish  minister 
at  Washington  remonstrated,  officially,  against  the  recom- 
mendation thus  made,  and  he  subsequently  communi- 
cated to  the  president  the  decrees  of  the  cortes, 
protesting  against  the  admission,  by  any  other  govern- 
ment, of  the  claims  of  those  countries  to  be  considered 
as  sovereign  states.  Nevertheless,  both  houses  of  con- 
gress adopted  the  views  presented  in  the  message,  and 
on  the  4th  of  May,  appropriations  to  a  large  amount 
w^ere  made  by  the  house  of  representatives,  for  the 
expenses  of  such  missions  as  the  president  should  think 
proper  to  send  to  the  countries  in  question. 

Propositions  w^ere  also  made  for  a  general  congress  of 
all  the  governments  of  North  and  South  America,  to 
meet  at  Panama,  and  after  a  long  debate  the  congress 
determined  to  send  delegates,  by  a  vote  taken  April 
21st,  1826;  and  accordingly  Mr.  Richard  Anderson, 
envoy  to  Colombia,  and  John  Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia, 
were  appointed.  Mr.  Anderson,  however,  died  on  his 
passage,  and  Mr.  Sergeant  having  deferred  his  passage 
until  too  late,  the  United  States  were  not  represented. 

The  result  of  this  congress  of  delegates  from  Peru, 


THE   MEXICAN    REPUBLIC.  143 

Mexico,  Central  America,  and  Colombia,  at  which  agents 
from  Great  Britain  and  Holland  were  present,  was  the 
production  of  treaties  of  offensive  and  defensive  alliance, 
to  which  all  the  other  powers  of  America  might  accede. 
It  separated  to  meet  again  at  Tacubaya  in  February, 
1827.  The  treaties  it  concluded,  however,  w^ere  not 
ratified ;  no  congress  met  at  Tacubaya,  and  all  its 
schemes  ended  in  smoke. 

In  1825,  Mr.  Poinsett  arrived  in  the  city  of  Mexico 
as  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States,  after  having  pre- 
viously filled  high  charges  of  a  similar  nature  in  othei 
countries.  About  the  same  time  Great  Britain  was 
represented  by  Mr.  Ward,  and  to  these  two  gentlemen 
the  world  is  indebted  for  almost  all  the  reliable  informa- 
tion it  possesses  about  Mexico.  Mr.  Ward  immediately 
concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  in  behalf  of  England,  which, 
however,  was  not  ratified,  and  Mr.  Poinsett  sought  to 
negotiate  a  similar  one  for  his  government.  Mr.  Poinsett 
also  sought  to  obtain  the  assent  of  Mexico  to  a  new  line 
further  to  the  west  than  the  one  then  existing  by  virtue  of 
the  treaty  with  Spain,  which  had  been  settled  February 
22,  1819,  when  Florida  became  a  part  of  the  United 
States.  The  Mexican  minister  of  foreign  relations 
was  however,  a  shrewd  politician,  and  would,  on  this  lat- 
ter point,  conclude  no  negotiations  ;  probably  seeing  that 
this  was  an  exhibition  of  a  desire  of  aggregation,  since 
certainly  maintained  by  the  United  States.  All  Mr.  Poin- 
sett could  do  was  to  conclude  a  treaty  of  alliance  and 
commerce,  which  he  did  on  the  10th  of  July,  1826. 
This  treaty  was  not,  however,  ratified  by  the  United 
States,  the  senate  of  which  declared  that  it  would  approve 
of  no  treaty  unless  the  boundaries  should  be  settled 
according  to  the  terms  of  1819.  It  may  be  said,  as  the 
United  States  had  never  refused  to  confirm  that  boundary, 


144  MEXICO   AND   HER   MILITABY   CHIEFTAINS. 

and  Mexico  had  insisted  upon  an  examination  (which  was 
never  made)  of  the  territory,  in  order  to  fix  ai  new  one, 
this  resolution  seems  to  have  been  at  least  unnecessary, 
and  may  perhaps  be  esteemed  as  frivolous.  Possibly,  it 
may  have  been  intended  to  accelerate  the  movements  of 
the  Mexican  executive  upon  the  subject. 

Mr.  Poinsett  was  then  instructed  by  his  government, 
on  the  15th  of  March,  1827,  to  propose  to  purchase  the 
desired  tract  of  territory  from  Mexico,  so  as  to  fix  the 
western  boundary  of  the  United  States  on  the  river  Colo- 
rado, or  even  on  the  Rio  del  Norte ;  but  this  proposal 
was  rejected  by  the  Mexicans,  and  years  passed  on  with- 
out any  determination  either  of  the  limits,  or  of  the  rules 
and  principles  by  which  the  intercourse  betw^een  the  two 
republics  was  to  be  conducted,  although  this  intercourse 
was  daily  increasing.  Meanwhile,  grants  of  land  in 
Texas  were  daily  made  to  individuals,  natives  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  other  countries,  as  well  as  Mexi- 
cans, and  a  population  was  rising  in  that  region,  essen- 
tially foreign  to  Mexico  in  language,  habits,  and  religion. 
From  Great  Britain,  Mexico  received  a  vast  amount  of 
capital,  which  was  expended  in  almost  every  instance 
fruitlessly,  in  attempts  to  work  new  silver  mines,  or  to 
restore  to  use  those  which  had  been  abandoned ;  the 
mining  operations  were,  however,  much  improved,  and 
the  proportion  of  the  precious  metal  obtained  has  been 
much  greater  since  than  before  the  separation  from 
Spain. 

During  the  administration  of  Guadalupe  Victoria, 
little  was  done  to  bring  Mexico  to  that  state  of  quiet  and 
security,  so  indispensable  for  the  happiness  and  advance- 
ment of  a  country.  The  finances  were  badly  adminis- 
tered, and  peculation  was  openly  practised  in  every 
direction.     The  president  and  vice-president,  as  before 


THE    MEXICAN    REPUBLIC.  145 

stated,  were  enemies ;  the  latter  headed  the  opposition, 
and  actually,  on  one  occasion,  in  January,  1828, 
appeared  at  the  head  of  forces  in  insurrection  against 
the  constituted  authorities.  He  was,  however,  on  this 
occasion,  defeated  and  made  prisoner  by  Guerrero. 
Independently  of  the  evils  arising  from  the  personal  am- 
bition of  various  individuals,  there  were  strong  parties, 
at  war  with  each  other  upon  material  points  of  govern- 
ment. One  party  wished  to  maintain  the  privileges  of 
the  aristocracy  and  the  clergy,  and  for  that  purpose  was 
desirous  of  seeing  established  a  central  system  of  govern- 
ment; the  other,  a  democratic  party,  wished  to  reduce 
these  privileges,  and  to  maintain  the  federal  constitution. 
By  the  exertions  of  the  latter,  a  law  was  passed  in  1826, 
putting  an  end  to  all  titles  of  nobility,  and  restricting 
parents  with  regard  to  the  distribution  of  their  property 
among  their  children.  Another  question,  which  strongly 
agitated  the  people,  was,  whether  the  Spaniards  should 
be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  republic  or  not ;  by  the 
influence  of  the  same  party,  the  expulsion  of  this  class 
of  the  population  was  effected,  in  virtue  of  a  decree 
passed  on  the  8th  of  March,  1828. 

The  affairs  of  the  state  also  became  involved  with 
Masonry,  which  produced  as  much  evil  in  Mexico  as  it 
appeared  once  to  threaten  in  our  own  country.  Those 
who  are  adepts  in  Masonry,  know  that  there  exists  a 
schism  in  the  masonic  world  on  the  subject  of  rites,  cere- 
monies, and  opinions ;  one  party  adhering  to  those  of 
the  Scotch  Lodge,  (^the  word  Lodge  is  here  used  collec- 
tively,) the  other  submitting  to  the  rules  of  York;  the 
lodges  in  the  United  States  are  all  constituted  upon  the 
York  principles.  Masonic  societies,  professing  the 
Scotch  rites,  had  existed  in  Mexico  for  some  time  pre- 
vious to  the  extinction  of  the  Spanish  authority,  and 
10 


146  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

during  the  wars  of  the  revolution  they  had  afforded 
facilities  for  the  propagation  of  plans  of  insurrection,  and 
of  other  information  among  the  people.  On  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  republic,  these  societies  were  filled 
chiefly  with  persons  professing  aristocratic  principles  of 
government ;  they  were  used  as  the  means  of  combining 
operations  for  the  maintenance  of  such  principles,  and 
were  accordingly  favored  by  the  representatives  of  Great 
Britain,  which  was  then  by  no  means  anxious  for  the 
extension  of  the  republican  system  throughout  America. 
The  grand  master  of  the  Scotch  masons  was  General 
Bravo,  who  was  for  some  time  their  favorite  candidate 
for  the  presidency ;  they  had  endeavored  to  raise  him  to 
that  station  at  the  first  election,  and  are  supposed  to  have 
been  the  advisers  of  his  insurrection  in  1828,  which  ter- 
minated so  unfortunately  for  him.  There  were  some 
York  lodges  in  Mexico,  the  members  of  which  were 
democratic  in  their  principles,  and  opposed  politically 
the  Escoceses. 

On  his  arrival,  Mr.  Poinsett  was  induced  to  obtain 
a  charter  for  the  establishment  of  a  York  lodge  in 
the  city  of  Mexico,  which  was  granted  by  De  Witt 
Clinton,  of  New  York,  at  that  time  high  in  authority 
in  the  masonic  order;  and  thenceforth  the  York  lodges 
were  generally  diffused  and  extended,  and  the  two 
terms,  Yorkino  and  Escocese,  became  what  whig  and 
tory  are  in  England.  Mr.  Poinsett,  it  may  be  presumed, 
never  had  any  connexion  with  either  branch  of  the 
order  in  Mexico.  In  1828,  the  second  election  for 
president  and  vice-president  of  Mexico  was  to  be 
held.  The  Escoceses  failing  in  their  plan  to  have 
their  grand  master  Bravo  elected,  put  forward  the 
minister  of  war,  General  Gomez  Pedraza,  a  man  of 
strong  character  and  capacity,  much  disliked,  however, 


THE    MEXICAN    REPUBLIC.  147 

in  the  army,  on  account  of  his  arbitrary  principles. 
The  candidate  of  the  Yorkinos  was  General  Vincent 
Guerrero,  the  persevering  Indian  chief,  who  had  just 
defeated  and  taken  Bravo,  who  had  never  bent  to  the 
threats  or  bribes  of  the  Spaniards,  and  had  never 
despaired  of  the  independence  of  his  country ;  bold, 
honest,  and  frank,  but  weak  and  illiterate,  he  was  much 
better  quaHfied  for  conducting  a  rapid  march  through  a 
region  occupied  by  enemies,  than  for  counteracting 
intrigues,  and  devising  measures  for  the  recovery  of  the 
finances,  and  for  the  pacification  of  a  troubled  country. 
The  election  was  held  in  September,  and  the  result  was 
that  Pedraza  was  chosen  by  a  small  majority  over  Guer- 
rero. The  announcement  created  great  sati.sfaction  on 
the  one  hand,  and  a  corresponding  disappointment  on 
the  other.  Scarcely  was  it  made  known  ere  an  insur- 
rection broke  out. 

General  Santa  Anna,  on  account  of  some  disturbances, 
had  been  removed  from  his  command  at  Vera  Cruz,  and 
taken  up  his  residence  at  Jalapa.  Here,  considering  the 
election  of  Pedraza  as  offering  a  good  opportunity  for 
an  insurrection,  he  prevailed  on  the  troops  to  join  him, 
and,  on  the  10th  of  September,  1828,  followed  by  a 
large  body  of  men,  he  suddenly  left  Jalapa,  and  march- 
ed upon  the  fortress  of  Perote,  situated  thirty  miles  dis- 
tant on  the  road  to  Mexico.  Having  obtained  posses- 
sion of  this  fortress,  and  of  a  large  amount  of  public 
money,  he  declared  himself  commander  of  the  liberating 
army,  and  proposed  his  plan  for  the  reform  of  the  gov- 
ernment, which  is  known  in  Mexican  history  as  the  Plan 
of  Perote.  By  the  terms  of  this  plan,  the  election  of 
Pedraza  was  pronounced  fraudulent,  and  the  legislature 
was  required  to  make  a  new  choice. 

President  Victoria  immediately  declared  Santa  Anna 


148         MEXICO    AND   HER  MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

an  outlaw,  and  sent  forces  against  him  under  generals 
Calderon  and  Rincon,  by  whom  he  was  at  least  kept  at 
bay.  In  the  capital,  however,  was  a  strong  party  in 
favor  of  this  plan  of  Perote,  headed  by  Lorenzo  de  Za- 
vala, the  governor  of  Mexico,  a  man  of  influence,  talent, 
and  honesty,  and  possessing  sufficient  firmness  for  his 
support,  in  the  trying  scenes  to  which  he  was  exposed. 
The  government  which  was  in  favor  of  Pedraza,  suspect- 
ing Zavala  to  be  engaged  against  him,  ordered  his  arrest, 
but  he  escaped  to  the  mountains,  and  joining  other 
friends,  they  planned  a  scheme  of  resistance.  It  was 
carried  into  effect  on  the  30th  of  November,  1828, 
when  a  body  of  soldiery  seized  a  large  building,  called 
the  Acordada^  opposite  the  Alameda  or  public  gardens 
of  the  capital,  and  took  possession  of  the  arms  stored 
there.  The  excuse  for  this  movement,  was  to  have  the 
Spaniards  expelled  ;  but  this  was  soon  forgotten,  in  the 
general  cry  of  Long  live  Guerrero.  That  chief  appeared 
and  headed  the  troops  and  people ;  nearly  all  the 
foreigners  except  the  members  of  the  American  legation 
quitted  the  city,  and  for  three  days  Mexico  was  the 
scene  of  combats  and  plunder.  A  party  of  the  mob 
attacked  the  house  of  Mr.  Poinsett,  who  was  accused 
of  protecting  some  Spaniards ;  he,  however,  advanced 
on  the  balcony  and  unfolded  the  star-spangled  banner 
of  his  country,  at  the  sight  of  which  the  crowd  cheered 
and  passed  on. 

The  result  of  this  movement  was  the  triumph  of  the 
Yorkino  party;  a  new  election  took  place, in  which 
Guerrero  was  chosen  president,  and  Don  Anastasio 
Bustamente  vice-president,  Pedraza  being  sent  in  exile 
to  the  United  States.  Victoria  retired  into  private  life, 
and  the  new  chiefs  of  the  state  entered  upon  their 
respective  duties  on  the  1st  of  April,  1829.     Santa 


THE   MEXICAN    REPUBLIC.  149 

Anna,  after  having  been  nearly  forced  to  surrender  to 
Calderon  at  Oaxaca,  was  himself  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  very  army  which  had  deposed  him,  and  was  restored 
to  his  government.  Mr.  Poinsett  soon  returned  home, 
leaving  Mr.  Butler  charg^  of  the  legation  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  now  time  to  refer  to  the  man  of  Mexico  whose 
history,  more  than  any  other's,  embodies  that  of 
the  nation  for  twenty-six  years,  and  to  review  the 
progress  we  have  made  towards  completion  of  our  task. 
We  have  thus  far  followed  the  successive  transitions  of 
the  state  of  Mexico,  during  the  present  century.  We 
have  observed  it  under  the  viceroys,  bowed  down  by  an 
absolute  despotism,  its  people  so  oppressed  that  they 
dared  not  even  look  upward.  We  have  seen  it  in  pos- 
session, in  fact,  of  a  wealth  which  equals  the  treasures 
of  fairy  history,  yet  pouring  out  all  its  resources  at  the 
feet  of  a  monarch  beyond  the  ocean,  who  cared  not  for 
its  devotion,  and  valued  its  wealth  only  as  a  means  of 
perpetuating  its  servitude  and  preserving  his  authority 
over  other  of  his  dominions.  We  have  seen  it  so  long 
governed  by  foreigners,  that  it  looked  on  the  rule  of  a 
native  as  impossible,  and  so  constantly  a  prey  to  tyranni- 
cal power,  cupidity,  and  avarice,  that  it  looked  on  justice 
and  humanity  as  superhuman  virtues.  We  have  seen 
the  people  superstitious,  abject,  and  humiliated,  looking 
on  heretic  and  rebel  as  synonymous  terms,  thinking  any 
one  who  dared  exert  the  precious  boon  of  reason  as 
derelict  in  duty  and  loyalty.  We  have  seen  that  people, 
animated  by  the  Promethean  fire  of  Liberty  of  Thought, 
burst  the  mental  fetters  which  weighed  on  it,  and  rise  to 
the  dignity  of  thinking  men.  We  have  seen  its  children 
enact  scenes  which  recall  the  brightest  days  of  ancient 
Greece,  and  seen  its  martyrs  march  to  the  place  of  exe- 


150         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

cution  cheered  by  that  consciousness,  which  the  old 
English  patriots  were  so  awake  to,  that  their  blood 
would  but  increase  the  fertility  of  the  soil  of  Freedom, 
and  aware  that  "the  good  old  cause  must  triumph." 

We  have  seen  the  great  men  who  had  won  the  liberty 
of  Mexico  pass  away,  one  by  one  hurried  from  view 
by  war  and  disease.  Guerrero,  Victoria,  all  have  passed 
from  the  scene  as  utterly  as  Hidalgo,  Morelos,  and 
Iturbide ;  and  we  now  behold  Bravo,  Bustamente,  and 
Farias  occupying  a  position  subordinate  to  Alaman  and 
Santa  Anna,  the  two  powerful  minds  which  would  long 
ago  have  destroyed  even  the  shadow  of  Mexican  nation- 
ality, had  it  not  been  that  they  kept  each  other  in  equi- 
poise, or,  like  two  poisons,  neutralized  each  other. 

We  have  now  to  trace  a  sad  descent.  We  are  to 
see  the  people  gradually  become  corrupt,  until  it  appears 
almost  to  lose  the  faculty  of  distinguishing  right  and 
wrong.  We  are  to  watch  the  course  of  its  principal 
men,  see  them  become  gradually  more  degraded,  and 
cease  at  last  even  to  pretend  to  virtue.  We  shall  see 
the  treasury  looked  upon  as  spoils  and  proclaimed  as 
an  inducement  to  win  partisans. 

We  shall  learn  that  a  people  may  have  no  annals, 
and  yet  not  be  blessed,  and  see  that  it  is  not  more  unim- 
portant to  mankind,  that  the  fate  of  every  animal  which 
falls  in  the  great  plaza  de  toros  should  be  chronicled, 
than  the  defeat  of  the  grasping  and  ignobly  ambitious 
chieftains,  who  rise  successively  on  the  horizon  and  dis- 
appear from  it,  should  be  recorded.  We  shall  see  their 
threats  derided,  see  their  fortresses  bombarded  almost 
without  resistance,  and  see  them  incompetent  to  profit 
by  the  teachings  of  experience,  rush  headlong  into  a 
contest  whence  there  can  be  no  honorable  egress  with 


THE    MEXICAN    REPUBLIC.  151 

safety,  yet  see  them  unable  to  resolve  to  fight  like  men 
in  defence  of  their  national  existence. 

We  shall  see  evidence  after  evidence  of  this  degra- 
dation rise  before  us,  until  we  shall  almost  be  inclined  to 
doubt  the  truth  of  that  holy  maxim,  that  nov^^here  has 
any  race  or  class  been  formed  to  be  "  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water"  to  another. 

The  person  who  probably  has  contributed  more  than 
any  other  to  bring  about  this  condition  of  affairs  has 
been  General  Santa  Anna.  In  the  following  pages,  we 
shall  always  find  him  him  watching  his  opportunity,  and, 
remembering  the  maxim  of  divide  et  impera,  seeking  to 
array  the  other  eminent  men  of  Mexico  against  each 
other,  and  uniformly  taking  advantage  of  their  collisions 
to  strike  out  a  new  path  for  himself.  Wily  and  astute, 
his  hand  has  rarely  been  seen,  though  all  have  been  con- 
vinced he  only  has  pulled  the  wires  in  obedience  to 
which  the  poHtical  puppets  have  moved,  so  that  though 
all  hold  him  accountaWe  for  most  that  has  occurred,  we 
can  but  confess  it  must  be  only  on  the  grounds,  that 
*' whenever  a  series  of  crises  occurs,  and  one  man  is 
uniformly  found  to  take  advantage  of  all  of  them,  it  is 
probable  he  has  contributed  to  bring  it  about." 

We  shall  witness  the  exhibition  of  great  intellectual 
power,  of  a  ready  wit  and  cunning  hand,  which  never 
has  deceived  him,  and  see  him  gather  resources  almost 
from  his  defeats.  W^e  shall  see  the  hundred  minor 
chieftains,  ever  anxious  to  ruin  each  other,  bend  submis- 
sively to  him,  and  look  on  him  with  a  devotion  other 
men  pay  only  to  their  country. 

We  shall  w^atch  him,  while  a  prisoner  in  a  hostile 
camp,  exerting  an  influence  in  the  capital  of  his  country, 
and  rushing  from  the  torpor  of  long  repose  into  action, 


152         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

to  make  political  capital  out  of  a  repulse  which  would 
have  ruined  another. 

From  the  contemplation  of  this  period  of  Mexican 
history  we  shall  rise  with  disgust,  wondering  for  what 
inscrutable  purpose  God  has  given  so  fair  a  land  in  cap- 
tivity to  such  a  ruler,  and  hesitating  if  the  old  creed  of 
Visigothic  conquerors,  that  beautiful  countries  were 
confided  to  degraded  races  until  a  firmer  and  worthier 
stock  were  ready  to  occupy  them,  may  not  be  true ;  or 
perhaps  shrink  back  with  terror  from  that  climate  and 
soil  which  has  made  of  the  children  of  two  such  rugged 
races  as  the  Spaniard  of  the  fifteenth  century  and 
the  North  American  Indian,  beings  as  degraded  as  are 
the  present  Mexicans.  We  shall  be  inclined  to  doubt 
if  the  country  be  not  in  worse  hands  than  when  it  was 
ruled  by  Montezuma,  and  if  the  unfurling  of  the  Spa- 
nish flag  in  America  has  not  retarded  the  progress  of 
human  enlightenment.  Finally,  we  shall  wonder  how 
long  Mexico  will  be  punished,  and  if  any  servitude  will 
purify  her  from  her  many  sins. 


H'?v-J--t 


.jm 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SANTA  ANNA. 

Santa  Anna — Mango  de  Clavo — Pronounces  against  Iturbide 
— President — Zacatecas — Texan  War — Revolution — Exile — 
Proclamation,  &c. 

In  regard  to  Don  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  we 
have  as  little  positive  information,  as  about  any  other  of 
the  Mexican  military  chieftains.  Of  his  early  history, 
we  know  nothing  certainly — one  account  representing 
him  as  the  son  of  a  Spanish  officer,  and  the  other,  as 
born  of  obscure  parentage.  In  the  sketch  of  the  life  of 
Iturbide,  it  has  been  seen  how  important  a  part  in  his 
dethronement  was  sustained  by  Santa  Anna,  of  which 
it  may  not,  however,  be  improper  to  make  a  recapitula- 
tion here. 

The  road  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico,  for  some 
distance,  is  by  the  side  of  the  sea,  and  then  crosses  a 
sandy  desert,  barren  and  sterile  as  can  be  imagined. 
It  then  passes  close  to  a  tranquil  bay,  the  green  ripples 
of  the  surface  of  which,  after  even  so  short  an  absence 
from  the  broad  expanse  of  the  gulf,  seem  grateful  in- 
deed, and  then  becomes  lost  amid  the  masses  of  a  tropi- 
cal forest,  extending  farther  than  the  eye  can  reach. 
The  traveller,  even  amid  its  natural  arcades,  hears  the 
murmur  of  the  ocean  mingled  with  the  whispering  of  the 
leaves,  and,  delighted,  surrenders  his  ear  to  this  har- 
mony, which,  if  he  travel  in  a  Mexican  coach  (a  litter 
or  palanquin),  lulls  him  to  sleep ;  or,  if  on  horseback, 


154         MEXICO   AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

fills  his  mind  with  all  tlie  poetry  with  which  the  country 
around  him  is  instinct.  From  time  to  time,  he  discovers 
through  the  thick  undergrowth  a  herd  of  asses,  or  the 
brow  of  an  untamed  bull,  which  exhibits  but  for  a  mo- 
ment his  rugged  form,  and  in  an  instant  becomes 
lost  in  the  impenetrable  thicket.  The  traveller,  who 
would  be  prompted  by  curiosity  to  ask  to  whom  these 
herds  belong,  would  be  told  they  came  from  the  haci- 
enda of  Mango  de  Clavo^  and  belong  to  General  Santa 
Anna. 

It  is  to  this  hacienda,  a  term  which  corresponds 
nearly  with  the  English  manor,  that  the  man  who,  since 
1821,  has  been  the  hero  of  all  the  revolutions  of  Mexico, 
has  come,  now  conquered,  now  victorious,  to  seek  re- 
pose from  the  misfortune  of  defeat  or  the  turmoil  of 
victory.  There  he  has  matured  new  plans,  and  changed 
his  political  antipathies  into  personal  friendships;  has 
meditated  on  schemes  to  overthrow  those  whom  he 
has  fostered,  and  to  protect  persons  whom  he  had 
previously  bitterly  opposed.  There  he  has  lived  retired, 
sometimes  forgotten  almost,  until  the  arrival  of  one  of 
those  crises  when  men  of  genius  make  all  things  their 
own,  and  when  his  war-cr}'  has  been  heard  from  one 
end  of  Mexico  to  another.  To  understand  what  will 
follow  in  this  story  of  Santa  Anna's  life,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  reader  should  remember  that  Mexico  is  now  in 
the  same  condition  in  which  England  was  under  the  Tu- 
dors,  and  that  it  cannot  be  estimated  by  the  rules  which 
we  apply  to  the  present  history  of  the  civilized  world. 
Each  Mexican  general  occupies  the  position  of  a  feudal 
baron,  and  each  department  and  command  is,  as  it  were, 
an  apanage.  Facts  alone  can  describe  the  versatile  char- 
acter of  Santa  Anna ;  the  aspirations  of  a  man  who,  Riche- 
lieu-like, knows  no  such  word  as  fail,  who  has  found 


SANTA    ANNA.  155 

ruin  in  his  victories  and  success  in  his  defeats,  who  sports 
with  his  own  Ufe  and  fortune  heedlessly  as  he  does 
with  that  of  others ;  who  sheds  blood  in  torrents,  yet  is 
not,  except  in  the  United  States,  thought  cruel ;  and  who 
understands  the  rash  and  impulsive  nature  of  his  com- 
patriots well  enough  to  dare  all  things  without  incur- 
ring the  accusation  of  temerity. 

Santa  Anna  must  be  about  forty-five  or  forty-six 
years  old ;  his  stature  is  tall,  and  age  has  made  no  im- 
pression on  him  as  yet.  He  is  pale,  has  black  eyes 
and  raven  hair,  which  curls  over  a  brow  lofty  and  ex- 
pressive of  daring.  He  has  the  air  and  manners  of  a 
gentleman,  and  a  ready  elocution,  which  fascinates  all 
who  can  understand  him  in  his  native  tongue,  which  he 
speaks  with  a  purity  rare  in  Mexico.  He  possesses  an 
intuitive  perception  of  character,  and  knows  what 
springs  of  the  human  soul  to  touch  to  effect  the  won- 
derful combinations  for  which  he  is  so  famous. 

He  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Mexico, 
in  1821.  At  this  time,  though  very  young,  he  com- 
manded a  body  of  insurgents,  at  the  head  of  whom  he 
took  possession  of  Vera  Cruz.  After  having  been 
favored  by  the  emperor  Iturbide,  whom  he  supported 
with  all  his  power,  he  was  summoned  to  appear  before 
him  to  give  an  account  of  some  act  of  grave  insubordi- 
nation. He  was  deprived  of  his  command,  a  punish- 
ment which  he  richly  deserved,  yet  by  no  means  expect- 
ed. He  returned  to  Vera  Cruz,  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  garrison,  which  was  attached  to  him  ;  and  after  a 
brief  harangue,  declared  against  the  imperial  authority 
and  proclaimed  Mexico  an  independent  repubhc.  Gen- 
eral Echavarri  was  sent  to  oppose  him,  but,  contrary  to 
all  expectation,  joined  him.  The  cities  of  Oaxaca,  Gua- 
dalajara, Guanajuato,  Queretaro,  San  Luis  de  Potosi,  and 


156  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

Puebla,  followed  his  example,  and  within  one  year  after 
Santa  Anna's  dismission,  Iturbide  was  dethroned.  A  few 
months  after  the  installation  of  the  new  republic,  the  first 
champion  of  which  he  had  been,  Santa  Anna  revolted 
against  the  authority  of  congress. 

In  1828  Santa  Anna  was  again  governor  of  Vera 
Cruz,  and  a  revolt  was  discovered  in  Mexico,  in 
which  he  was  thought  to  be  an  accomplice,  and  was 
therefore  recalled  to  the  capital.  One  who  had  dis- 
obeyed the  brave  and  gallant  Iturbide,  was  by  no  means 
likely  to  yield  to  the  headless  congress.  Far  from  sur- 
rendering his  command,  which  extended  only  over  the 
city  of  Vera  Cruz,  Santa  Anna  usurped  authority  over 
the  whole  province,  appealed  to  the  faithful  Vera 
Cruzanos,  defeated  the  troops  which  were  sent  against 
him,  and  took  possession  of  the  castle  of  Perote.  The 
congress  declared  Santa  Anna  an  outlaw,  and  other 
troops  were  sent  against  him. 

Santa  Anna  did  not,  in  his  turn,  declare  the  congress 
outlaws,  but  commenced  against  it  one  of  those  wars  of 
skirmishes  in  which  he  has  almost  always  been  success- 
ful. In  this  campaign  his  constant  attendant  and  com- 
panion was  Arista. 

The  soldiers  of  Santa  Anna  were  all  from  the  tierra 
caliente ;  men  whose  bodies,  of  the  color  of  bronze,  seem 
to  suffer  from  exposure  no  more  than  that  metal  does. 
The  vomito  had  no  effect  on  them,  while  the  forces  of 
the  government,  from  the  tierra  templada,  died  by  hun- 
dreds ;  they  were  able  to  support  hunger,  fatigue,  the  hot 
air,  and  the  broiling  sun,  with  no  sustenance  frequently 
after  a  day's  march,  other  than  the  fruits  of  the  country 
and  the  excitement  of  a  cigar.  At  the  head  of  such  men, 
Santa  Anna  laughed  at  pursuit  by  enemies  who  died  by 
the  wayside  from  fatigue.    After  a  long  campaign,  he  was, 


SANTA    ANNA.  157 

however,  forced  to  leave  Perote  and  retire  towards 
Tehuacan  and  Camino  de  Oaxaca,  in  which  city  he  for- 
tified himself. 

Followed  up  by  a  superior  force,  he  was  forced 
to  retreat  from  house  to  house,  from  street  to  street, 
and  -Anally  to  shut  himself  up  with  his  party  in  the 
vast  convent  of  Santo  Domingo,  which,  like  most  other 
ecclesiastical  buildings  in  Mexico,  was  protected  by  high 
walls  with  loop-holes,  defended  by  a  massive  gate,  and 
more  than  all,  by  the  sanctity  attached  to  it.  He  was 
under  no  apprehension  of  a  storm,  for  no  man  in  Mex- 
ico would  lift  a  hand  against  a  consecrated  building, 
and  famine  alone  could  force  him  to  submit  to  his 
assailants. 

Santa  Anna  knew  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  and 
therefore,  without  paying  any  attention  to  his  enemies, 
quietly  laid  himself  down  for  his  siesta  (an  indispensa- 
ble in  war  or  peace  to  a  Mexican),  in  the  coolest  part 
of  the  convent.  The  leaguerers  were  less  composed, 
but  were  also  ready  enough  to  take  their  chocolate 
and  rest.  On  the  next  day  the  firing  began,  for 
though  it  would  have  been  impious  to  injure  the  walls 
of  the  church,  there  was  no  objection  to  slaying  the 
men  who  were  behind  them.  The  party  of  Santa  Anna, 
protected  by  the  walls,  suffered  little,  while  his  enemies 
were  mowed  down  by  his  deadly  musketry.  A  day  and 
night  passed  as  the  first  twenty-four  hours  had  done, 
except  that  the  skilful  Santa  Anna  had  under  the  shelter 
of  the  night  managed  to  drive  into  the  court-yard  of  the 
convent,  a  large  number  of  oxen,  by  the  side  of  which, 
with  their  horses  saddled,  stood  a  large  party  of  the  hardy 
rancheros  from  the  tierra  caliente.  A  signal  was  silently 
given,  each  sprang  on  his  steed,  and  the  besieged, 
who  it  was  fancied  were  satisfied  with  their  success, 


158  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

threw  wide  the  gates  as  was  the  custom  in  solemn  pro- 
cessions. Instead,  however,  of  the  banners  of  the  church , 
of  chasubles  and  priests,  the  besiegers  saw  lancers  with 
their  red  flags  and  dragoons  with  their  yellow  jackets. 
The  towers,  instead  of  displaying  waving  ^ags  and 
ringing  with  peals  of  joy,  were  filled  with  soldiers,  who 
fired  into  the  ranks  of  the  besiegers,  who  were  on  their 
part  almost  too  much  astonished  to  notice  a  detachment 
of  the  garrison  of  Santo  Domingo  dashing  at  full  speed 
towards  a  neighboring  convent,  of  which  it  immediately 
took  possession.  The  commander  of  the  government 
troops  saw  at  once  how  grievous  a  fault  he  had  com- 
mitted by  failing  to  take  charge  of  this  convent,  from 
the  towers  of  which  he  could  have  incommoded  so 
much  the  besieged.  He  was  forced  at  once  to  change 
his  position,  for  he  was  between  two  fires,  since  Santa 
Anna's  last  manoeuvre.  After  a  lapse  of  many  days, 
during  which  Santa  Anna,  as  was  his  wont,  bided  his 
time,  and  the  government  officer  sought  by  all  means  to 
get  the  better  of  his  wily  antagonist,  the  latter  cast 
his  eyes  on  the  belfry  of  the  building  last  occupied, 
and  then  turning  to  his  adjutant,  said:  "Unless  I  am 
mistaken,  Don  Cayetano,  instead  of  those  agile  soldiers 
so  busy  in  shooting  us  for  three  days  past,  I  see 
monks  in  the  towers.  The  long-beards  cannot  have 
joined  Santa  Anna!" 

<'  Senor,  they  must  have  done  so,  otherwise  they 
could  not  have  afforded  to  make  such  a  detachment." 

Soon  after  the  hoods  and  frocks  of  the  friars  were 
distinguished  every  where  on  the  azotea,  or  roof  of  the 
convent,  and  the  bells  began  to  sound  as  if  they  rang  for 
the  deliverance  of  their  house,  or  to  make  up  for  lost 
time. 

One  monk  especially  seemed  to  excel  his  comrades 


SANTA  ANNA.  159 

in  zeal  and  activity,  and  in  his  enthusiasm  suffered  his 
hood  to  fall  off  and  discover  for  a  moment  a  bright  red 
moustache.  The  elevation  of  the  tower  prevented  this 
from  being  observed.  The  general  of  the  congress  had 
observed  what  was  going  on,  and  immediately  ordered 
the  convent  to  be  occupied.  A  regiment  at  once 
obeyed,  and  advanced  with  shouldered  arms.  Suddenly 
the  monks  let  fall  their  gowns,  and  brilliant  uniforms 
appeared  in  their  place.  A  shower  of  balls  fell  on  the 
advancing  regiment,  from  both  convents,  the  effects  of 
which  cross-fire  decimated  them  before  they  could 
recover  from  their  surprise. 

The  position  of  Santa  Anna,  however,  had  become 
critical,  for  his  finances  were  exhausted.  Arista,  who 
was  the  person  with  the  red  moustache,  had  contrived  to 
join  him,  after  an  expedition  to  the  neighboring  mines 
of  Oaxaca. 

"  Tell  me,  Arista,"  he  is  represented  to  have  said  on 
this  occasion,  "how  much  money  do  you  bring  me?" 
"Not  a  pesoV  replied  he;  "but  I  have  brought  the 
administrador,  who  protests  he  has  not  one  rialP^ 
Santa  Anna  bade  him  tell  his  muchachos  (his  boys)  that 
he  had  no  money ;  but  promised  them  an  increase  of 
one-third  of  their  pay,  whenever  he  could  get  it. 

But  chance  just  then  came  to  die  aid  of  Santa  Anna. 
There  was  a  report  that  Mexico  had  been  the  scene  of 
another  revolution.  Besieged  and  besiegers  rushed 
together,  and  called  each  other  friends  and  brothers. 
The  monks  were  restored  to  their  convent,  the  adminis- 
trador  to  his  mines,  and  the  soldiers  of  Santa  Anna  to 
the  tierra  caliente.  He,  too,  returned  to  Manga  de 
Clavo.  This  part  only  was  sustained  by  him  in  the 
revolution  which  deposed  Pedraza.  He  reaped  much 
advantage  from  it,  however,  the  command  of  the  state  of 


160         MEXICO    AND   HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Vera  Cruz  being  conferred  on  him  immediately,  and 
subsequently  a  seat  in  Pedraza's  cabinet  as  minister  of 
war,  at  that  time  a  promotion  which  no  one  could 
have  anticipated,  or  he  have  hoped.  What  followed 
in  the  next  few  years  we  have  already  referred  to,  and 
will  therefore  omit  all  that  ensued  until  the  arrival  of 
that  part  of  Santa  Anna's  career  which  established  him 
as  the  man  of  the  nation. 

The  Mexican  people  had  been  so  long  free  from  the 
Spanish  rule  that  they  looked  on  a  return  of  their  old 
masters  as  impossible,  until,  in  the  summer  of  1829, 
General  Barradas  landed  at  Tampico  in  command  of 
an  army  of  four  thousand  Spanish  veterans.  Santa 
Anna  was  not  then  at  Vera  Cruz,  but  in  Mexico  in 
charge  of  his  bureau ;  he  was  no  sooner  informed  of  the 
landing  of  Barradas,  than  with  seven  hundred  men  in 
open  boats  he  crossed  the  Bahia  and  landed  at  Tuspan, 
avoiding  the  Spanish  vessels  most  dexterously  in  his 
hazardous  voyage  of  seventy-  miles  across  the  gulf. 
From  Tuspan  in  canoes  or  perogues  he  crossed  the 
lagoon  of  Jamaihua,  and  landed  within  three  leagues 
of  Tampico,  which  was  then  occupied  by  Barradas's 
forces,  the  general  having  gone  on  an  expedition  into 
the  interior  with  three  thousand  men,  and  left  one  thou- 
sand to  garrison  the  cit}\  Santa  Anna  resolved  on  an  im- 
mediate attack  at  daylight  the  next  morning,  August  1st, 
1829,  and  after  a  contest  of  four  hours  the  town  capitu- 
lated. Scarcely  had  this  occurred  than  General  Bar- 
radas reappeared.  Santa  Anna  was  impeded  from 
retreat  by  the  river  which  intervened  between  him  and 
the  city,  and  it  was  evident  nothing  could  save  him  but 
one  of  those  stratagems  which  have  so  often  decided  the 
fate  of  armies,  and  which  the  mind  of  Santa  Anna  seems 
so  peculiarly  qualified  for  conceiving.     By  means  of  his 


SANTA    ANNA.  161 

agents  he  contrived  to  persuade  Barradas  that  he  was  at 
the  head  of  an  overwhelming  force ;  and  the  Spaniard, 
instead  of  an  attack,  entered  into  negotiations,  with  the 
understanding  that  while  they  were  progressing,  Santa 
Anna  should  retire  into  his  own  quarters.  Santa  Anna 
of  course  consented,  and,  with  drums  beating  and  ban- 
ners waving,  crossed  the  river  and  returned  in  safety. 
When  Barradas  learned  how  he  had  been  duped,  his 
mortification  was  extreme,  but  the  mistake  could  not  be 
remedied.  The  effect  of  this  ruse  was  such  that  the 
Mexican  army  was  not  attacked  until  Safnta  Anna  had 
been  reinforced,  and  the  Spaniard  saw  it  would  then  be 
vain.  Every  night  the  Spaniard  was  attacked  by  his 
persevering  foe  ;  and  on  the  11th  of  September  a  vigor- 
ous  assault  was  made  on  the  fort  at  the  bar,  which  forced 
the  Spanish  general  into  a  capitulation,  by  which  he 
laid  down  his  arms  and  soon  after  sailed  with  the  rem- 
nant of  his  force,  twenty- two  hundred  men,  to  Havana. 
This  was  the  last  effort  of  Spain  against  Mexico,  a  con- 
vulsive effort  which  was  near  success  in  consequence  of 
the  wildness  which  had  animated  it,  and  against  which 
it  was  impossible  to  provide. 

As  Mr.  Thompson,  the  envoy  of  the  United  States, 
says,  this  defence  of  Santa  Anna  recalls  to  us  the  history 
of  General  Jackson's  famous  defence  of  New  Orleans; 
the  strong  point  of  which  was  not,  as  has  generally  been 
supposed,  the  defence  of  the  city  behind  the  cotton  bags, 
but  the  night  attack  on  the  British  immediately  after  their 
landing  amid  the  wind  and  the  rain,  which  enabled  the 
officers  of  engineers  to  throw  up  the  breastworks  which 
such  men  as  it  was  the  privilege  of  the  American  general 
to  command,  could  defend  against  any  force.  One 
thing,  however,  is  sure,  the  strategy  of  Santa  Anna  on 
that  occasion  was  second  to  no  feat  of  arms  which  has 
11 


162         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

occurred  on  this  continent,  except  the  defence  of  New 
Orleans.  The  result  of  this  affair  was  the  promotion  of 
Santa  Anna. 

Guerrero  was  then  president,  a  gallant  man  and 
soldier,  but  altogether  incompetent  for  the  administra- 
tion of  a  civil  government,  and  the  people  were  gene- 
rally dissatisfied  with  him.  It  would  undeniably  be 
treason  of  the  blackest  kind  in  the  United  States  to 
raise  the  standard  of  disobedience  to  the  constituted 
authorities  of  the  country ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  if  in 
Mexico,  just  emerged  from  a  civil  war,  where  all  was 
yet  confused,  circumstances  did  not  at  least  excuse,  if 
not  justify  the  deposition  of  any  one  manifestly  unable 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  nation.  Though  the 
opposition  to  Guerrero  was  general,  Yucatan  first  threw 
dov^Ti  the  gauntlet  on  the  4th  of  December,  by  seceding 
from  the  republic.  General  Bustamente  soon  after 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt,  Santa  Anna  remaining 
apparently  undecided  at  Vera  Cruz,  where  he  was  suf- 
fered to  command.  The  result  was,  that  by  the  plan  of 
Jalapa, Guerrero  was  deposed,  and  Bustamente  assumed 
the  presidency,  apparently  with  tlie  full  consent  of  all. 
For  three  years  the  republic  was  devastated  by  wars ; 
and  after  remaining  quiet  for  a  short  time,  Guerrero 
took  arms,  but  was  defeated  by  Bravo  at  Chilpanzingo, 
on  the  2d  of  January,  1831,  and  became  a  refugee. 
Thus  situated,  he  went  to  Acapulco  and  embarked  for 
Europe  in  a  Genoese  vessel,  but  was  delivered  by  the 
captain,  Picaluga,  to  the  authorities  of  a  neighbor- 
ing port,  Guatulco.  He  was  thence  removed  to  Oaxaca, 
tried  by  a  military  commission,  and  shot  at  Cuilapa,  a 
town  in  the  neighborhood.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
betrayed  at  the  instance  of  Alaman,  Bustamente's 
secretary   of  state,   who    paid   the   rascally   Italian   (a 


i 


SANTA    ANNA.  163 

protege  of  Guerrero  in  his  prosperity),  in  consideration 
of  tliis  treason,  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

The  government  of  Bustamente  was  not,  however, 
peaceful.  General  Alvarez  and  other  chiefs  maintained 
themselves  in  opposition  during  all  1831,  and  in  1832 
another  revolution  was  effected  with  greater  bloodshed 
than  those  which  had  exalted  Guerrero  and  Bustamente. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  supported  by  the  garrisons 
of  Vera  Cruz  and  San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  Santa  Anna 
declared  against  the  existing  government,  an  example 
soon  followed  by  the  commander  of  Tampico,  General 
Moctezuma.  To  repress  these  demonstrations,  General 
Calderon  was  sent  by  Bustamente  with  a  large  body  of 
troops ;  and  Santa  Anna,  on  the  3d  of  March,  was  de- 
feated at  Talome,  about  six  leagues  from  Vera  Cruz, 
and  afterwards  besieged  in  the  latter  place.  Before  the 
summer,  however,  had  passed  away,  Santa  Anna  was 
reinforced,  and  obliged  Calderon  to  fall  back,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  and  the  increasing  demonstrations 
against  the  president,  the  latter  was  forced  to  come  to 
terms  and  to  consent  to  quit  the  country,  and  Pedraza 
declared  to  have  been  duly  elected  in  1828.  Pedraza's 
presidency  expired  on  the  31st  of  March,  1833, 
previous  to  which  Santa  Anna  was  chosen  to  succeed 
him,  with  Gomez  Farias  as  his  vice-president.  In  con- 
sequence of  some  difference  between  the  congress  and 
president,  relative  to  the  passage  of  laws  abridging  the 
power  of  the  aristocracy  and  clergy,  the  former  declared 
freedom  of  discussion  was  violated,  (which  in  fact  was 
really  the  case,  Santa  Anna  having  plainly  intimated  to 
it,  that  if  it  did  not  comply  with  his  wishes,  he  would 
use  force),  and  suspended  its  sessions.  May  14th,  1834. 
Immediately  on  this,  Santa  Anna  appealed  to  the  people 
in  a  proclamation,  to  sustain  peace  and  order,  which  he 


164  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

represented  as  threatened  by  the  congress,  and  effected 
the  pronunciamento  of  Cuernavaca,  on  the  25th  of 
May,  the  object  of  which  was  the  repeal  of  certain  laws 
against  the  church,  the  banishment  of  certain  indi- 
viduals, and  the  reorganization  of  the  government ;  until 
which  was  effected,  Santa  Anna  was  endowed  almost 
with  the  powers  of  a  dictator. 

A  new  congress  met  in  1835,  nearly  all  its  members 
coming  with  instructions  from  the  people  or  the  legisla- 
tures of  the  states,  consenting  that  the  form  of  the  govern- 
ments might  be  altered  according  to  the  will  of  the  ma- 
jority ;  and  congress  accordingly  determined  it  had  a 
right  to  alter  the  government  in  any  point  not  affecting 
the  maintenance  of  a  republican  system,  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic church,  the  independence  of  the  country,  and  the 
freedom  of  the  press.  The  legislatures  of  a  great  many 
of  the  states  had  declared  in  favor  of  an  alteration  of  the 
constitution.  Yucatan,  which  had  remained  separate 
since  1829,  became  united,  and  declared  itself  ready  to 
submit  to  the  action  of  the  congress.  The  state  of 
Texas  and  Coahuila  remained  opposed  to  a  change,  but 
General  Cos,  the  military  commandant,  summarily  dis- 
persed the  legislature ;  and  Zacatecas  having  declared 
against  a  change,  Santa  Anna  marched  against  it  in  per- 
son, and  by  a  bloody  battle,  on  the  11th  of  May,  reduced 
it  to  submission.  There  was  elsewhere  no  opposition, 
except  on  the  part  of  old  Bravo,  who  had  fought  too 
long  for  the  liberty  of  the  country  thus  to  see  it  frittered 
away.     He  long  continued  in  arms  in  the  south. 

Notwithstanding  this  opposition,  congress  proceeded 
with  its  labors,  and  a  constitution  was  formed  anni- 
hilating the  state  governments,  dissolving  their  legis- 
latures, and  uniting  all  the  states  into  one  government^ 
whole  and  indivisible.     Thus  w^as  formed  the  constitution 


SANTA    ANNA.  165 

of  Mexico,  which  has  produced  all  its  later  troubles, 
and  is  the  present  government  of  Mexico,  pronounced 
by  all,  from  its  unwieldy  character,  probably  the  worst 
that  ever  existed.  Its  features  are  these :  A  president, 
selected  for  eight  years ;  a  house  of  deputies  and  a 
senate ;  the  latter  selected  in  the  most  complicated  man- 
ner by  electors  thrice  removed  from  the  people ;  and  a 
supreme  court.  It  also  embraces  what  is  termed  the 
supreme  conservative  power,  with  a  veto  on  everything, 
composed  of  five  members,  and,  in  the  words  of  the 
organic  law,  ^^  responsible  to  God  and  public  opinion 
alone^ 

While  the  legislature  was  thus  remodelling  the  con- 
stitution, occurred  the  Texas  revolution.  The  country 
west  of  the  Sabine  had  long  since  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  frontier  population  of  the  United  States,  masses 
of  which  were  strewn  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
having  received  grants  of  land,  and  been  permitted  to 
settle  on  certain  conditions  which  the  adoption  of  the 
new  constitution  violated.  In  December  of  1835,  a 
congress  of  nine  persons  assembled  at  Goliad,  and 
declared  themselves  independent,  which  was  followed 
by  a  more  formal  declaration  in  March,  1836,  at  Wash- 
ington, Texas.  A  provisionary  government  was  orga- 
nized, and  General  Samuel  Houston  was  appointed 
commander-in-chief.  Hostilities  had  commenced  im- 
mediately after  the  first  declaration,  between  the  Mexican 
garrisons  and  the  settlers,  and  Santa  Anna  despatched 
General  Cos  to  Monclova,  the  seat  of  government  of 
Coahuila  and  Texas,  with  orders  to  humble  that  depart- 
ment, and  immediately  afterwards  repaired  to  the  city 
of  Mexico. 

When  General  Cos  had  reached  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment he  acted   as   if  he   expected   no  difficulty,  and 


166  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

required  the  surrender  to  the  president  of  the  governor 
of  the  state  and  many  eminent  citizens,  both  of  American 
and  Spanish  extraction,  among  whom  was  Lorenzo  de 
Zavala,  who  had  previously  been  governor  of  Mexico, 
and  had  been  compelled  to  expatriate  himself  at  the  time 
of  the  plan  of  Jalapa.  It  may  not  be  improper  here  to 
state,  that  Zavala  identified  his  fortunes  with  those  of 
Texas,  the  vice-president  of  v;hich  he  became,  and 
received  the  compliment  of  having  one  of  the  cruisers 
of  the  new  republic  called  after  him.  He  was  a  man  of 
rare  energy  and  great  decision  of  character,  and  an  orna- 
ment to  his  native  province,  Yucatan. 

Of  course  the  requisition  was  not  complied  with. 
The  legislature  w^as  dispersed,  and  the  governor  forced 
to  escape.  The  rights  of  the  state  w^ere  thereby  finally 
destroyed ;  and,  to  put  the  last  finish  to  the  military  des- 
potism, the  arms  of  the  American  settlers  were  ordered 
to  be  surrendered.  The  people  of  Texas,  however, 
were  no  hybrid  men,  but  true  Americans  in  feeling,  and 
they  determined  to  resist  the  invaders,  and  make  good 
by  the  bow  and  spear  the  tides  to  the  settlements  they 
had  made  by  virtue  of  the  invitation  and  grants  of  the 
Mexican  nation,  which  had  yielded  to  them  rights  and 
assumed  duties  not  to  be  revoked  or  laid  aside  at  the 
will  of  either  party  to  the  contract. 

Cos  had  already  crossed  the  boundary  of  the  state 
with  an  army  of  fifteen  hundred  men,  and  had  entrenched 
himself  at  San  Antonio  de  Bexar,  a  strong  town  on  the 
river  San  Antonio,  near  where  the  twenty-second  parallel 
of  latitude  crosses  it.  He  sent  forward  a  party  under 
Colonel  Castonedo  to  Gonzales,  on  the  Guadalupe, 
which  empties  into  the  San  Antonio,  with  an  order  for 
the  people  to  surrender  their  heavy  ordnance.  They 
not  only  refused  to  do  this,  but  collected  a  party  of 


SANTA    ANNA.  167 

about  one  hundred  men  to  attack  him.  They  did  attack 
Castonedo,  and  with  such  good  will,  that  though  he  had 
twice  as  strong  a  force  as  they,  he  was  defeated  and 
compelled  to  fall  back  in  the  greatest  haste  on  San  Anto- 
nio de  Bexar,  or  Bexar,  as  the  Texans  usually  call  it. 
The  war  now  began,  and  the  Texans  determined  not  to 
be  whipped  without  at  least  a  show  of  resistance.  A 
national  convention  was  called,  which  gave  its  adhesion 
to  the  constitution  of  1824,  declared  null  by  Santa 
Anna,  and  appealed  to  the  people  of  the  other  depart- 
ments of  the  republic  to  stand  by  them  in  defence  of 
constitutional  liberty.  As  whe«  the  American  congress 
appealed  to  the  people  of  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  Eng- 
land, this  address  was  disregarded,  and  it  became  evi- 
dent that  arms  alone  could  decide  the  controversy.  A 
Texan  general,  named  Burleson,  was  then  before  the 
walls  of  the  Alamo,  a  fortress  of  Bexar,  with  six  hundred 
Americans,  awaiting  the  developments  of  time,  when 
Milam,  who  had  long  been  a  prisoner  in  Mexico,  made 
his  appearance.  Milam  had  effected  his  escape,  and 
had  gone  through  great  difficulties  in  reaching  them,  so 
that  when  he  joined  the  force  of  Burleson,  and  was  told 
of  the  destruction  of  even  the  shadow  of  liberty,  in  the 
republic,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  obtahiing  volunteers  to 
the  number  of  two  hundred  and  sixteen  men.  With 
these  he  immediately  marched  from  the  Alamo  to  attack 
the  principal  defences,  in  which,  as  has  been  stated,  was 
Cos,  with  fifteen  hundred  men.  The  scene  subsequently 
enacted  on  a  large  scale  in  the  streets  of  Monterey,  then 
occurred  in  San  Antonio  de  Bexar.  The  deadly  western 
rifle  and  knife  in  the  hands  of  such  men,  induced  after  five 
days  of  incessant  strife  a  surrender  of  the  garrison,  which 
had  lost  more  men  than  the  besiegers  numbered,  with  four 
hundred   stand  of  arms,  &c.  •  The  Texans'  loss  was 


168         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

small,  but  important,  for  ]Milam  had  been  killed.  Ill 
news  flies  apace.  Santa  Anna  soon  heard  of  the  defeat 
of  Cos,  and  in  the  winter  of  1836,  crossed  the  Rio 
Grande  with  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men,  in  the  van 
of  which  was  borne  a  red  flag,  a  token  that  he  intended 
to  give  no  quarter.  The  advance  proceeded  to  lay  siege 
to  the  Alamo,  in  which  was  a  Texan  officer  named 
Travis,  with  one  hundred  and  forty-five  men.  Messen- 
gers were  immediately  despatched  to  the  eastern  part  of 
Texas,  to  say  that  the  fort  was  besieged,  and  appealing 
in  these  Spartan  terms  to  his  companions: 

"  The  enemy  have  demanded  me  to  surrender  at 
discretion,  otherwise  the  garrison  is  to  be  put  to  the 
sword.  I  have  answered  his  summons  with  a  cannon- 
shot.  Our  flag  still  floats  proudly  fi^om  the  walls.  We 
shall  never  surrender  or  retreat.     Liberty  or  death!" 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  Alamo  was  not  evacu- 
ated, for  any  reinforcements  which  could  have  been  sent 
would  have  been  lost  before  Santa  Anna's  overwhelming 
force,  and  the  place  was  by  no  means  valuable  as  a 
military-  position. 

Travis  resisted  for  six  days,  repulsing  every  attack, 
but  at  last  Santa  Anna  arrived  and  assumed  the  com- 
mand in  person.  For  four  days  longer  they  held  out, 
until  at  last  their  fire  was  almost  silenced.  Two 
attempts  to  scale  the  walls  were  repulsed,  the  Texans 
using  the  buts  of  their  guns  with  great  effect.  The 
third  attempt  succeeded,  though  not  without  immense 
loss.  No  quarter  was  asked  for  and  none  offered  ;  and 
when  Santa  Anna,  after  the  capture,  mustered  his  army, 
fifteen  hundred  had  been  killed,  ten  times  the  number 
of  the  Texans  engaged.  The  pages  of  history  record 
no  greater  carnage,  and  from  this  time  for  ever,  Texas 
was  separated  from  the  United  States  of  Mexico.     In 


SANTA   ANNA.  169 

the  defence  of  the  Alamo  fell  Travis,  Crockett,  and 
Bowie ;  the  latter,  while  on  his  bed  unable  to  move, 
having  been  bayoneted  by  order  of  Santa  Anna.  The 
bodies  of  all  the  defenders  were  collected  into  a  heap 
and  burned. 

When  Santa  Anna  declared  himself  dictator,  Texas 
was  not  alone  in  her  opposition  to  this  usurpation,  Coa- 
huila  and  Zacatecas  having  united  with  her.  The  one, 
however,  had  been  intimidated,  and  the  other  conquered, 
and  the  battle  was  evidently  to  be  fought  by  Texas 
alone.  When,  therefore,  Santa  Anna,  flushed  by  his 
success,  was  overrunning  the  whole  country,  there  re- 
mained but  one  alternative ;  and,  on  the  2d  of  March, 
1836,  Texas  declared  itself  independent. 

How  the  campaign  in  Texas  progressed  is  now  well 
known,  and  more  than  a  glance  at  some  of  its  events  is 
unnecessary.  One  event,  however,  deserves  especial 
mention  and  reprobation.  A  number  of  volunteers 
commanded  by  Colonel  Fanning  surrendered  to  Urrea 
(whose  notoriety  is  derived  solely  from  his  concern  in 
this  transaction,  and  his  participation  with  Farias  in  a 
pronunciamento  in  1840),  with  a  written  stipulation 
that  they  were  to  be  treated  as  prisoners  of  war, 
and  be  permitted  to  embark  at  Coporo  for  the  United 
States.  By  order  of  Santa  Anna,  this  capitulation 
was  violated,  and  the  defenceless  men  were  on  their 
march  made  to  halt  and  shot  in  cold  blood. 

Santa  Anna  subsequently  when  in  the  United  States 
was  taken  to  task  for  this  assassination  by  General 
Jackson,  and  stated  to  the  American  minister  at  Mexico, 
Mr.  Thompson,  that  he  thus  accounted  for  it.  The 
campaign  was  undertaken  in  obedience  to  an  act  of 
the  Mexican  congress,  which  ordered  no  quarter  to  be 
given,  and  that  the  terms  allowed  by  Urrea  were  a  viola- 


170         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

tion  of  this  law.  The  terms  of  capitulation  would,  how- 
ever, have  been  observed,  but  that  on  the  route  to  Coporo 
the  prisoners  became  mutinous,  and  the  officer  in  com- 
mand asked  for  instructions  how  he  should  proceed.  In 
this  emergency,  Santa  Anna  sent  a  copy  of  the  act,  and 
consequently  all  were  shot  but  two  surgeons,  who  were  re- 
tained to  attend  on  the  Mexican  invalids.  This  explana- 
tion could  not  possibly  have  satisfied  General  Jackson, 
for  it  has  obvious  feeble  points.  Imprimis,  if  General 
Urrea  exceeded  his  power,  he  was  responsible  for  it, 
but  the  capitulation  should  have  been  not  the  less 
observed ;  in  the  second  place,  Santa  Anna  had  ten 
thousand  men  in  Texas,  and  could  have  furnished  any 
guard  needed.  The  world  will  ever  continue  to  look 
on  the  transaction  as  a  wholesale  deliberate  murder,  for 
which  he  must  account  to  history  if  not  to  the  kinsmen 
of  his  "victims. 

General  Samuel  Houston  about  this  time  com- 
manded twelve  hundred  men,  and  was  gradually  re- 
treating towards  the  eastern  shore  of  Texas,  whence 
but  few  men  as  yet  had  come.  He  wished  to  induce 
Santa  Anna  to  separate  his  forces  in  tvvo  portions,  and 
was  confident  that  with  the  five  hundred  men  he  ex- 
pected from  the  country  on  the  Red  river  and  Sabine, 
he  could  defeat  him  in  detail  and  drive  him  from  Texas. 
With  this  view  he  left  the  Colorado  and  crossed  again 
the  Brazos,  a  circumstance  which  dispirited  his  men.  It 
happened,  however,  as  he  had  designed.  Santa  Anna 
divided  his  forces,  and  with  filteen  hundred  men 
marched  in  person  towards  San  Felipe.  Small  parties 
were  left  behind  him,  and  Houston  continued  to  re- 
treat. Santa  Anna  was  deceived  and  pushed  on,  leav- 
ing his  hea-v-y  artillery  behind  him,  without  a  doubt  but 
that  he  would  drive  Houston  across  the  Sabine.     The 


SANTA    ANNA.  171 

latter  concealed  his  forces  until  the  Mexicans  had 
crossed  the  Brazos  and  marched  towards  Harrisburg. 
Then  Houston  turned,  marched  at  once  towards  Buffalo 
Bayou,  and  on  the  19th  of  April  came  up  with  the 
enemy.  The  next  day  was  passed  in  skirmishing, 
without  any  decided  advantage  on  either  side. 

The  two  armies  became  engaged  on  the  31st  of 
April,  where  the  Bayou  discharges  itself  into  the  San 
Jacinto.  How  Santa  Anna  was  beaten  has  always  been 
a  mystery;  he  had  the  advantage  of  position,  and 
had  his  artillery,  a  portion  of  which  had  reached  him, 
well  posted.  A  person  who  served  there,  and  who  has 
had  long  experience  in  w^arfare,  informed  the  author 
that  he  never  saw  a  more  unpromising  yet  a  more  reso- 
lute charge,  than  the  one  by  the  Texans  headed  by 
Houston  on  Santa  Anna's  forces.  They  rushed  up  the 
hill  with  their  guns  at  a  trail,  until  within  about  twenty- 
five  yards  of  the  enemy,  when  they  halted  and  delivered 
four  distinct  volleys  with  a  precision  which  was  frightful. 
The  enemy's  artillery  were  not  idle,  but  delivered  more 
than  one  fire  with  great  coolness,  which  the  Texans 
avoided  by  throwing  themselves  on  their  faces  at  the 
flash,  and  rising  at  the  report  with  fearful  yells  to  renew 
their  fire.  At  length  one  company  dashing  forward 
went  pell-mell  over  the  Mexican  position  and  captured 
the  guns.  The  order  for  a  charge  was  given  by  Hous- 
ton, and  his  men  rushed  like  a  tempest  on  the  enemy. 
All  opposition  was  over.  The  slaughter  at  the  Alamo 
and  the  massacre  of  Fanning  were  fearfully  avenged  by 
the  death  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty  Mexicans,  and 
the  capture  of  six  hundred  more,  among  whom,  sad  to 
tell,  was  the  redoubtable  Santa  Anna. 

How  Santa  Anna  was  taken  has  been  often  described, 
and  all   accounts  of  it  should  be  received  with  great 


172         MEXICO    A^•D    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

allowance.  Three  persons  have  in  the  presence  of  the 
author  avowed  their  participation  in  his  capture,  and 
each  gave  an  entirely  different  location  and  detail  to  the 
event.  Suffice  it  to  say,  he  was  taken ;  and,  when 
brought  before  Houston,  said,  '« Sir,  yours  is  no  com- 
mon destiny ;  you  have  captured  the  Napoleon  of  the 
west,"  and  immediately  engagements  were  entered  into 
which  it  was  hoped  would  terminate  the  war. 

Before  deciding,  however,  Houston  called  a  council. 
Under  no  other  circumstances  would  the  Texans  have 
treated  with  him  and  done  aught  but  order  Santa  Anna  to 
be  shot  by  the  quarter-guard  for  his  slaughter  of  Fanning's 
men,  but  the  certainty  that  Filasola,  an  accomplished 
Italian  in  the  Mexican  service,  was  marching  towards 
them  at  the  head  of  a  force  more  numerous  than  theirs 
induced  deliberation.  It  was  determined,  consequently 
that  the  president  and  the  captured  army  should  be 
released  and  permitted  to  return  to  Mexico. 

One  clause  of  the  then  formed  treat)-  stipulated,  "  that 
the  president  Santa  Anna,  in  his  official  character  as 
chief  of  the  Mexican  nation,  and  the  Generals  Don 
Vicente  Filasola,  Don  Jose  Urrea,  Don  Joaquin  Ramires 
de  Sesma,  and  Don  Antonio  Guano,  as  chiefs  of  armies, 
do  solemnly  acknowledge,  sanction,  and  ratify  the  full, 
entire,  and  perfect  independence  of  Texas,  with  such 
boundaries  as  are  hereafter  set  forth  and  agreed  upon 
for  the  same.  And  they  do  solemnly  pledge  themselves, 
with  all  their  personal  and  official  attributes,  to  procure, 
without  delay,  the  final  and  complete  ratification  and 
confirmation  of  this  agreement,  and  all  the  parts  thereof, 
by  the  proper  and  legitimate  government  of  Mexico — 
by  the  incorporation  of  the  same  into  a  solemn  and  per- 
petual treaty  of  amity  and  commerce,  to  be  negotiated 
with  that  government  at  the  city  of  Mexico,  by  minis- 


SANTA    ANNA.  173 

ters  plenipotentiary,  to  be  deputed  by  the  government 
of  Texas  for  this  purpose." 

Santa  Anna  was  permitted  to  visit  Washington  city, 
and  was  sent  home  in  a  man-of-war  at  the  expense  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  It  need  not  be  said  that 
Mexico  violated  every  promise  made  to  Houston,  under 
the  plea  that  Santa  Anna  was  in  duress,  and  therefore  not 
competent  to  act. 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  Texans  did  not 
shoot  Santa  Anna,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  they  would 
have  been  justified  in  doing  so.  They  acted,  however, 
more  humanely,  and  thus  giving  him  his  life. 

There  is  a  story  told  by  an  interesting  French  writer 
in  relation  to  this  circumstance,  which  is  altogether  too 
epigrammatic  to  be  true.  "  While  the  council  of  war  dis- 
cussed the  disposition  to  be  made  of  the  captive  presi- 
dent, an  old  man  rose  and  said :  <  We  are  at  war  with 
Mexico,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  do  all  we  can  to  injure  her. 
Santa  Anna  has  for  a  number  of  years  tyrannized  over 
his  country,  and  nearly  ruined  it.  Let  us  release  him, 
he  will  return  thither  and  in  a  few  years  Mexico  wdll 
be  too  feeble  to  give  us  any  trouble.'  " 

It  is  probable  that  if  Santa  Anna  had  remained  presi- 
dent after  his  return,  this  would  have  been  the  case. 

The  difficulty  with  Texas  w^as  preceded  by  one 
with  Zacatecas,  already  briefly  referred  to.  This  state 
also  was  devoted  to  the  federal  system,  and  had  at  its 
capital  five  thousand  persons  determined  to  defend  the 
constitution.  Santa  Anna  marched  against  them  in  per- 
son. When  he  reached  Zacatecas,  it  was  arranged  that 
General  Andrade  should  pretend  to  be  disaffected,  and 
espouse  the  cause  of  the  constitutionalists.  The  gov- 
ernor of  the  state  being  inexperienced  in  military  affairs, 
Avillingly  received  him,  and  confided  to  him  the  com- 


174  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

mand  of  the  state  troops.  In  a  very  short  time  Andrade 
marched  his  men  outside  the  city  and  encamped  in  the 
plain,  and  at  the  same  time  detached  his  cavaliy-  to  some 
distance  from  the  foot,  whom  he  bade  not  to  keep  on 
the  alert  any  longer,  as  he  had  no  fear  of  an  attack. 
The  order  was  universally  obeyed,  except  by  the  com- 
mander of  the  artillery,  D'Harcourt,  by  birth  a  German, 
who  still  acted  with  all  military  precaution.  Santa 
Anna,  adi'oitly  contrived  to  place  himself  between  the 
forces  of  Zacatecas  and  the  town,  rendering  their 
escape  impossible,  and  commenced  a  fire  on  them. 
D'Harcourt  fought  manfully,  and  was  near  defeating 
him  with  his  artillery.  At  last  he  was  forced  to  give 
way,  and  the  city  was  taken,  when  an  indiscriminate 
massacre  was  ordered,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of 
the  Mexican  officers.  This  beautiful  city  was  thus 
nearly  destroyed,  and  from  it  General  Cos  marched  to 
Texas. 

The  constitution,  it  ^^ill  be  remembered,  was  com- 
pleted during  the  absence  of  Santa  Anna,  who,  while 
at  the  head  of  his  army,  was  unable  to  assure  those 
arrangements  that  would  have  secured  him  the  control 
of  the  new  government,  which  enured  exclusively  to 
the  benefit  of  the  last  man  whom  he  would  have 
wished  to  benefit.  After  his  expulsion  in  1832,  Gene- 
ral Bustamente  had  been  in  Europe,  it  is  not  improba- 
ble in  want,  certainly  in  dependence.  It  is  doubtful  if 
Mexico  possesses  a  purer  man  than  him,  against  whom 
even  his  enemies  have  not  been  able  to  make  one  allega- 
tion of  dishonesty  or  peculation.  Though  he  had  long 
been  in  office,  his  salary  was  small,  and  for  several  months 
undrawn ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  so  poor  that  he  sold 
everjihing  he  possessed  to  pay  his  debts,  including  even 
his  watch  and  cane,  the  latter  of  which  was  offered  for  sale 


SANTA    ANNA.  175 

to  Mr.  W.  Thompson,  during  his  mission  to  Mexico. 
This  anecdote,  as  Mr.  T.  says,  recalls  to  mind  the 
stories  of  those  days  in  ancient  Rome,  when  her  dicta- 
tors were  so  poor  as  to  require  to  be  buried  at  the  public 
expense.  This  is  especially  creditable  to  one  who  has 
been  president  of  Mexico,  where  so  little  check  is  im- 
posed either  by  law  or  reputation,  on  the  desire  and  man- 
ner of  becoming  rich.  Bustamente  was  at  once  aware 
that  the  government,  as  proposed  to  be  administered, 
could  not  last ;  and  had,  in  the  early  part  of  1837,  re- 
turned to  Mexico.  He  was  then  elected  president,  and 
entered  on  his  duties  in  May  of  that  year. 

During  the  administration  of  Bustamente,  Mexico 
became  involved  in  a  serious  difficulty  with  France, 
arising  from  outrages  on  the  persons  and  property  of 
French  citizens,  at  different  periods  since  the  revolu- 
tions. In  the  spring  of  1838,  the  French  government, 
wearied  with  making  ineffectual  demands  for  reparation, 
proposed  the  following  ultimata^  which  were  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Admiral  Baudin:  The  government  of 
France  required  pecuniary  reparation  for  all  losses  in- 
curred by  Frenchmen,  the  dismissal  of  certain  obnoxious 
functionaries,  a  concession  that  henceforth  Frenchmen 
should  enjoy  the  privileges  of  the  most  favored  nations, 
and  the  restoration  of  the  right  of  carrying  on  the  retail 
trade.  After  some  months  spent  in  negotiation,  the 
French  admiral,  on  the  27th  November,  1838,  made 
an  attack  on  the  Castle  of  St.  John  de  Uloa. 

In  1582,  sixty-one  years  aft^  they  had  set  foot  on 
Aztec  soil,  the  Spaniards  began  this  fortress^  in  order  to 
confirm  their  power.  The  centre  of  the  space  which  it 
occupies,  is  a  small  island,  w^here  the  Spaniard,  Juan 
de  Grijalva,  arrived  one  year  before  Cortes  reached  the 
Mexican  continent.     Having  found  the  remains  of  two 


176  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

human  victims  there,  they  asked  the  natives  why  they 
sacrificed  men  to  their  idols,  and  receiving  for  answer, 
that  it  was  by  orders  of  the  kings  of  Acolhua,  the 
Spaniards  gave  the  island  the  name  of  Ulua,  by  a  natu- 
ral corruption  of  that  word. 

It  is  pretended  that  the  fortress  cost  four  millions ; 
and  though  this  immense  sum  is  no  doubt  an  exaggera- 
tion, the  expense  must  have  been  very  great,  when  we 
consider  that  its  foundations  are  below  the  water,  and 
that  for  nearly  three  centuries  it  has  resisted  all  the  force 
of  the  stormy  waves  that  continually  beat  against  it. 
Many  improvements  and  additions  were  gradually  made 
to  the  castle ;  and,  in  the  time  of  the  viceroys,  a  first- 
rate  engineer  paid  it  an  annual  visit,  to  ascertain  its  con- 
dition and  to  consider  its  best  mode  of  defence,  in  case 
of  an  attack.  In  1603,  however,  Vera  Cruz  was  sacked 
by  the  English  corsair,  Nicholas  Agramont,  incited  by 
one  Lorencillo,  who  had  been  condemned  to  death  for 
murder  in  Vera  Cruz,  and  had  escaped  to  Jamaica. 
Seven  millions  of  dollars  were  carried  off,  besides  three 
hundred  persons  of  both  sexes,  whom  the  pirates  aban- 
doned in  the  Island  of  Sacrificios,  when  they  re-em- 
barked. 

In  1771,  the  viceroy,  then  the  Marquis  de  la  Croix, 
remitted  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars  to  the  gover- 
nor, in  order  that  he  might  put  the  castle  in  a  state  of 
defence ;  and  the  strong  bulwarks  which  still  remain, 
attest  the  labor  that  has  been  bestowed  upon  it.  The 
outer  polygon,  which  Ic^ks  towards  Vera  Cruz,  is  three 
hundred  yards  in  extent ;  to  the  north  it  is  defended  by 
another  of  two  hundred  yards,  whilst  a  low  battery  is 
situated  as  a  rear  guard  in  the  bastion  of  Santiago ;  and 
on  the  opposite  front  is  the  battery  of  San  Miguel.  The 
whole  fortress  is  composed  of  a  stone  which  abounds  in 


SANTA    ANNA.  177 

the  neighboring  island,  a  species  of  coral,  excellent  for 
building,  piedra  mucara. 

In  1822,  no  stronghold  of  Spanish  power  remained 
but  this  castle,  whose  garrison  was  frequently  reinforced 
by  troops  from  Havana.  Vera  Cruz  itself  was  then  in- 
habited by  wealthy  and  influential  Spaniards.  Santa 
Anna  then  commanded  in  the  province,  under  the 
orders  of  Echavarri,  the  captain-general,  and  with  in- 
structions from  Iturbide,  relative  to  the  taking  of  the 
castle.  The  commandant  was  the  Spanish  general 
Don  Jose  Davila.  It  was  not,  however,  till  the  follow- 
ing year,  when  Lemaur  succeeded  Davila  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  citadel,  that  hostilities  were  begun  by  bom- 
barding Vera  Cruz. 

Men,  women  and  children,  then  abandoned  the  city. 
The  merchants  went  to  Alvarado,  twelve  leagues  off', 
whilst  those  who  were  driven  from  their  houses  by  a 
shower  of  balls,  sought  a  miserable  asylum  amongst  the 
burning  plains  and  miserable  huts  in  the  environs. 
Some  made  their  way  to  Jalapa,  thirty  leagues  off"; 
others  to  Cordova  and  Orizava,  equally  distant.  With 
some  interruptions,  hostilities  lasted  two  years,  during 
which  there  was  nearly  a  constant  firing  from  the  city  to 
the  castle,  and  from  the  castle  to  the  city. 

The  object  of  General  Barragan,  now  commander- 
in-chief,  was  to  cut  off*  all  communication  between  the 
garrison  of  the  castle  and  the  coasts,  and  to  reduce  them 
to  live  solely  upon  salt  provisions,  fatal  in  this  warm  and 
unhealthy  country.  In  1824,  the  garrison,  diminished  to 
a  mere  handful,  was  replaced  by  five  hundred  men  from 
the  peninsula ;  and  very  soon  these  soldiers,  shut  up  on 
the  barren  rocks,  surrounded  by  w^ater,  and  exposed  to 
the  dangers  of  the  climate,  without  provisions  and  with- 
out assistance,  were  reduced  to  the  most  miserable  con- 
12 


178  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

dition.     The  next  year,  Don  Jose  Copinger  succeeded 

Lemaur,  and  continued  hostilities  with  fresh  vigor. 

This  brave  general,  with  his  valiant  troops,  sur- 
rounded by  the  sick  and  the  dpng,  provisions  growing 
scarcer  every  day,  and  those  that  remained  corrupt  and 
unfit  to  eat,  yet  resolved  to  do  his  duty,  and  hold  out  to 
the  last.  No  assistance  arrived  from  Spain.  A  Mexi- 
can fleet  was  stationed  off  the  Island  of  Sacrificios  and 
other  points,  to  attack  any  squadron  that  might  come 
from  thence  ;  while  the  north  winds  blew  with  violence, 
keeping  back  all  ships  that  might  approach  the  coasts. 
"Gods  and  men,"  says  a  zealous  republican  (Zavala), 
"the  Spaniards  had  to  contend  with;  having  against 
them,  hunger,  sickness,  the  fire  and  balls  of  the  enemies, 
a  furious  sea  covered  with  reefs,  a  burning  atmosphere, 
and  above  all,  being  totally  ignorant  as  to  whether  they 
should  receive  any  assistance." 

The  minister  of  the  treasury,  Estevan,  then  came 
from  Mexico,  and  proposed  a  capitulation;  and  the 
Spanish  general  agreed  that  should  no  assistance  arrive 
within  a  certain  time,  he  would  give  up  the  fortress ; 
evacuating  it  with  his  whole  garrison,  and  with  the  suit- 
able honors.  The  Spanish  succors  arrived  a  few  days 
before  the  term  was  expired,  but  the  commander  of  the 
squadron,  seeing  the  superiority  in  point  of  numbers  of 
the  Mexican  fleet,  judged  it  prudent  to  return  to  Ha- 
vana to  augment  his  forces.  But  it  was  too  late.  On 
the  15th  of  September,  the  brave  General  Copinger, 
with  the  few  troops  that  remained  to  him,  marched  out 
of  the  fortress,  terminating  the  final  struggle  against  the 
progress  of  revolution,  but  upholding  to  the  last  the 
character  for  constancy  and  valor  which  distinguished 
the  sons  of  ancient  Spain. 

Of  its  last  assault  by  the  French  squadron  in  1838, 


SANTA    ANNA. 


179 


there  is  no  need  to  say  anything.  Every  newspaper 
gave  an  account  of  the  capitulation  of  what  the  French 
gazettes  called  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  the  St.  Jean  d'Acre 
of  the  new  world,  which  sailors  of  the  gulf  saluted  as 
the  Queen  of  the  Seas  and  bulwark  of  Mexico. 

For  two  years  after  his  return  from  the  United  States, 
Santa  Anna  was  apparently  forgetful  and  forgotten  at 
Mango  de  Clavo,  during  all  that  had  been  taking  place, 
but  was  aroused  by  the  echoes  of  the  French  artillery, 
then  directed  against  the  previously  impregnable  fortress 
of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa.  He  hurried  to  Vera  Cruz,  where 
he  found  an  appointment  of  military  commander,  from 
the  authorities  at  Mexico,  already  awaited  him.  He 
was  unable  to  prevent  the  capture  of  the  castle,  which 
was,  it  has  been  stated,  almost  in  a  dismantled  condi- 
tion, but  was  far  more  successful  on  the  main-land. 
The  French  admiral,  Baudin,  having  possessed  himself 
of  the  former,  resolved  to  make  a  demonstration  against 
Vera  Cruz,  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  des- 
patched an  expedition,  in  which  the  Prince  de  Joinville 
participated,  to  the  city.  The  day  chanced  to  be  foggy 
and  damp,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  boats  from  t  e 
vessels  to  keep  together,  and  also  for  the  people  of  the 
town  to  discover  them,  two  circumstances  which  com- 
pensated the  one  for  the  other.  The  French  landed ; 
but  Santa  Anna,  who  was  in  bed,  soon  rallied  a  force 
sufficient  to  beat  back  the  invaders.  During  the  retreat, 
however,  hotly  pursued  as  they  were,  a  sailor  dis- 
charged a  cannon  which  chanced  to  point  towards  the 
Mexicans,  by  which  Santa  Anna  was  unfortunate  enough 
to  lose  his  leg.  This  attempt  on  the  city  was  sufficient 
to  satisfy  the  admiral,  that  if  he  had  stumbled  on  success 
in  his  attack  on  the  castle,  his  force  w^as  far  too  feeble 
to  make  any  impression  even  on  Vera  Cruz. 


180  MEXICO    AND   HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Both  parties,  however,  had  now  seen  enough  of  the 
«  horrors  of  war,'*  to  give  great  attention  to  the  media- 
tion proposed  by  Mr.  Packenham,  who  most  oppor- 
tunely arrived  with  an  English  fleet ;  by  whose  influence 
or  the  persuasive  effect  of  the  British  guns,  France  was 
induced  to  lower  her  demands  nearly  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  did  not  longer  insist  on  the  retail  trade 
being  allowed  to  her  citizens.  In  the  events  of  this  war, 
a  conspicuous  part  was  borne  by  the  Prince  de  Joinville, 
a  younger  son  of  Louis  Phillippe,  who  was  the  nominal 
commander  of  one  of  the  French  vessels  employed  in 
the  attack.  On  this  part  of  the  history,  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  dwell,  as  the  events  are  so  recent  as  to 
be  remembered  by  all.  It  is  one  of  the  evils  attendant 
on  the  exercise  of  authority  in  countries  like  Mexico, 
that  all  the  mischances  of  war  are  attributed  to  the 
mis-government  of  the  chief  authorities,  and  President 
Bustamente,  was  heavily  visited  for  this  attack  dictated 
by  the  French  king's  cupidity  and  desire  of  pandering 
to  the  false  ambition  of  his  subjects. 

Santa  Anna  subsequently  remained  at  his  estate,  and 
Bustamente  occupied  the  executive  chair,  without,  how- 
ever, being  unaware  that  there  were  around  him  elements 
of  contention,  which,  sooner  or  later,  must  break  out. 
On  the  15th  of  July,  1840,  a  revolution  arose  in  the 
city  of  Mexico,  which  was  forcibly  taken  possession  of 
by  the  federalists.  General  Urrea,  who  had  been  impri- 
soned by  the  government,  was  released  by  his  adherents, 
headed  by  Gomez  Farias,  who  surprised  the  palace  and 
imprisoned  the  president.  After  a  fight  of  twelve  days, 
in  which  three  hundred  men  were  killed  and  wounded 
in  the  streets  of  the  capital,  the  insurgents  were  forced 
to  yield  to  Governor  Valencia,  who  arrived  with  a  rein- 
forcement of  troops ;   and  on  the  27th  of  July,  they 


SANTA    ANNA.  181 

capitulated,  on  condition,  among  other  things,  that  Va- 
lencia would  ufee  his  influence  to  bring  about  a  reform 
in  the  constitution,  and  that  all  acts  of  the  malcontents 
should  be  buried  in  oblivion.  The  outbreak  was  not 
attended  with  any  unusual  degree  of  excess,  property- 
having  been  on  both  sides  respected.  General  Busta- 
mente  again  resumed  the  direction  of  affairs,  and  Santa 
Anna,  who  had  been  recalled  from  Perote,  quietly  re- 
turned thither.  While,  however,  at  Mexico,  he  man- 
aged to  arrange  his  various  schemes,  so  that  on  the  31st 
of  August  another  revolution  broke  out.  Valencia, 
who  but  two  months  before  had  opposed  the  insurrec- 
tion of  Farias  and  Urrea,  now  pronounced  against  Busta- 
mente,  whom  he  had  till  then  defended  in  the  most  posi- 
tive manner.  As  all  the  subsequent  history  of  Mexico 
hinges  on  this  revolution,  if  that  title  can  be  applied  to 
the  substitution  of  one  chieftain  for  another,  it  may  not 
be  improper  to  reproduce  the  various  documents,  which 
we  take  from  the  admirable  letters  generally  attributed 
to  Madame  Calderon  de  la  Barca,  whose  husband,  then 
in  the  capital,  was  the  first  Spanish  ambassador  ever 
sent  to  Mexico,  Spain  having  for  a  series  of  years  most 
strenuously  refused  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of 
that  tributary  which  had  so  long  acknowledged  the  au- 
thority of  her  kings. 

'*  Soldiers !  The  despotism  of  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment, the  innumerable  evils  which  the  nation  suffers, 
the  unceasing  remonstrances  which  have  been  made 
against  these  evils,  and  which  have  met  with  no  at- 
tention, have  forced  us  to  take  a  step  this  evening, 
which  is  not  one  of  rebellion,  but  is  the  energetic 
expression  of  our  resolution  to  sacrifice  everything  to 
the  common  good  and  interest.  The  cause  which  we 
defend"  is  that  of  all  Mexicans ;  of  the  rich  as  of  the 


182  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

poor ;  of  the  soldier  as  of  the  civilian.  We  want  a 
country,  a  government,  the  felicity  of  our  homes,  and 
respect  from  without ;  and  we  shall  obtain  all ;  let  us 
not  doubt  it.  The  nation  will  be  moved  by  *our  ex- 
ample. The  arms  which  our  country  has  given  us  for 
her  defence,  we  shall  know  how  to  employ  in  restoring 
her  honor — an  honor  which  the  government  has  stained 
by  not  acknowledging  the  total  absence  of  morality  and 
energy  in  the  actual  authorities.  The  army  which 
made  her  independent  shall  also  render 'her  powerful 
and  free.  The  illustrious  General  Santa  Anna  to-day 
marches  to  Puebla,  at  the  head  of  our  heroic  com- 
panions of  Vera  Cruz,  while  upon  Queretaro,  already 
united  to  the  valiant  General  Paredes,  the  brave 
General  Cortazar  now  begins  his  operations. 

"  In  a  few  days  we  shall  see  the  other  forces  of  the 
repubhc  in  motion,  all  co-operating  to  the  same  end. 
The  triumph  is  secure,  my  friends,  and  the  cause  which 
we  proclaim  is  so  noble,  that,  conquerors,  we  shall  be 
covered  with  glory ;  and,  happen  what  may,  we  shall 
be  honored  by  our  fellow-citizens." 

This  proclamation  was  signed  by  General  Valencia. 
The  secret  of  this  was,  that  events  had  been  so  arranged 
by  Santa  Anna  that  the  revolution  must  occur,  and  Va- 
lencia having  become  aware  of  this,  determined  to  take 
such  a  stand  that  he  would  be  like  the  occupant  of  a 
manor  in  dispute,  in  possession,  and  force  two  other 
litigants  to  bid  for  the  key,  that  the  ejectment  might  be 
brought  against,  not  by  him.  In  Mexico,  as  well  as 
elsewhere,  possession  is  nine  points  of  the  law,  and  the 
importance  of  Valencia's  movement  will  therefore  be 
understood  at  once. 

Paredes,  in  the  interim,  marched  from  Guadalajara 
upon  Guanajuato,  and  there  General  Cortazar,  just  pro- 


SANTA   ANNA.  183 

moted  by  Bustamente  for  his  courage  in  resisting  Farias 
and  Urrea,  proved  traitor  and  sided  with  Paredes.  The 
two  united,  advanced  on  Queretaro,  where  Juvera  sided 
with  them,  having  previously  pronounced  hy  accident ^ 
just  before  they  received  orders  to  march  to  assist  the 
president.  The  united  forces  of  the  three  now  advanced 
towards  Mexico,  where  Valencia  was  still  persisting  that 
he  asked  nothing  for  himself  but  only  the  good  of  the 
country,  and  required  the  deposition  of  Bustamente. 

Santa  Anna  still  remained  at  Perote,  and  Bustamente 
w-as  in  the  city  with  Canalizo  and  Almonte,  making  head 
against  the  revolters.  An  intelligent  Frenchman  who 
was  in  Mexico  during  this  scene,  and  subsequently  tra- 
velled in  the  United  States,  thus  explained  ]this  game  of 
cross  purposes.  Santa  Anna,  while  in  Mexico  in  July, 
corrupted  all  these  generals.  Almonte,  one  of  his  inti- 
mates, who  has  been  said  to  be  a  relation,  was^^  del 
piano  may  or  ^  or  general  staff  of  the  president,  and  thus 
it  occurred  that  all  things  contributed  to  the  fall  of  Bus- 
tamente. 

After  several  days  of  threats,  and  marchings  and  coun- 
ter-marchings in  the  capital,  Santa  Anna  wTote  that  Bus- 
tamente had  repeatedly  violated  the  constitution,  and 
that  he  would  therefore  come  immediately  to  Mexico. 
The  people  generally  began  to  desire  his  presence,  as 
shells  passing  from  the  quarters  of  Valencia  to  the  na- 
tional palace,  were  destroying  the  most  beautiful  part  of 
the  city.  On  the  19th  of  September,  however,  Torrejon, 
who  had  kept  Santa  Anna  in  check,  was  ordered  to  the 
city,  and  Bustamente  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
forces  thus  obtained  and  those  commanded  by  Canalizo 
and  Almonte,  consequently  leaving  Echavarri  at  the  head 
of  the  government.  Santa  Anna  immediately  set  out  for 
Mexico,  taking  possession  on  the  way  of  Puebla ;  he  re- 


184  MEXICO   AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

ceived  large  reinforcements  on  the  march,  so  that  his 
ragamuffins  had  increased  into  an  army  of  respectable 
size.  It  was  then  evident  that  danger  to  the  government 
was  to  be  expected  not  from  him  alone,  but  from 
Paredes.  Strangely  enough,  however,  the  president  at 
the  head  of  his  troops,  with  Canalize  and  Norriega,  had 
marched  to  meet  Paredes,  leaving  Almonte  and  Echa- 
varri  in  Mexico,  to  act  in  his  stead.  After  some  delay 
the  president  met  Paredes,  and  after  an  interview,  left 
him  for  the  seat  of  government,  in  which  direction 
Paredes  also  moved  on  the  27th. 

Santa  Anna  was  not,  during  the  last  four  or  five  days 
idle.  He  too  had  been  marching,  and  after  an  interview 
with  the  commissioners  from  the  president,  met  Almonte 
on  the  27th.  What  transpired  between  the  two  is  a 
mystery,  except  when  the  latter  left,  Santa  Anna  said 
simply,  ^«  Es  biceno  muchacho  " — he  is  a  good  boy. 

On  the  28th,  Paredes,  Valencia,  and  Santa  Anna 
met  at  the  palace  of  the  archbishop,  at  Tacubaya,  the 
result  of  which  conference  was  the  following  plan  formed 
on  the  29th,  consisting  of  thirteen  articles,  by  which  are 
established  the  following  pacts,  not  one  of  them  seeming 
to  look  to  a  principle. 

The  first  declared — It  is  the  will  of  the  nation  that  the 
supreme  powers  established  by  the  constitution  of  1 836 
have  ceased,  excepting  the  judicial,  which  will  be  limited 
in  its  functions  to  matters  purely  judicial,  conformably  to 
the  existing  laws. 

The  second — A  Ju7ita  is  to  be  named,  composed  of 
tv;o  deputies  from  each  department,  elected  by  his  ex- 
cellency the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Mexican  army, 
Don  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  entirely  free  to  point  out  the  person  who  is  to 
hold  the  executive  power,  provisionally. 


SANTA   ANNA.  185 

The  third — This  person  is  immediately  to  assume 
the  executive  power,  taking  an  oath  in  the  presence  of 
the  junta,  to  act  for  the  welfare  of  the  nation. 

The  fourth — The  provisional  executive  power  shall 
in  two  months  evoke  a  newcongress,  which,  with  ample 
powers,  shall  engage  to  re-constitute  the  nation,  as  ap- 
pears most  suitable  to  them. 

The  fifth — This  congress  extraordinary^  shall  reunite 
in  six  months  after  it  is  convened,  and  shall  solely 
occupy  itself  in  forming  the  constitution. 

The  sixth — The  provisional  executive  shall  answer 
for  its  acts,  before  the  first  constitutional  congress. 

The  seventh — The  provisional  executive  shall  have 
all  the  powers  necessary  for  the  organization  of  all  the 
branches  of  the  public  administration. 

The  eighth — Four  ministers  shall  be  named;  of 
foreign  and  home  relations ;  of  public  instruction  and 
industry ;  of  treasury ;  and  of  war  and  marine. 

The  ninth — Each  department  is  to  have  two  trust- 
worthy individuals  to  form  a  council,  which  shall  give 
judgment  in  all  matters  on  which  they  may  be  consulted 
by  the  executive. 

The  tenth — Till  this  council  is  named,  the  junta  will 
fulfil  its  functions. 

The  eleventh — Till  the  republic  is  organized,  the 
authorities  in  the  departments  which  have  not  opposed, 
and  will  not  oppose  the  national  will,  shall  continue. 

The  twelfth — The  general- in-chief  and  all  the  other 
generals,  promise  to  forget  all  the  political  conduct  of 
military  men  or  citizens  during  the  present  crisis. 

The  thirteenth — When  three  days  have  passed  after 
the  expiration  of  the  present  truce,  if  the  general-in-chief 
of  the  government  does  not  adopt  these  bases,  their  ac- 
complishment will  be  proceeded  with;  and  they  declare 


186  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

in  the  name  of  the  nation,  that  this  general  and  all  the 

troops  who  follow  him,  and  all  the  so-called  authorities 
which  counteract  this  national  will,  shall  be  held  responsi- 
ble for  all  the  Mexican  blood  that  may  be  uselessly  shed ; 
and  which  shall  be  upon  their  heads." 

Strange  as  had  been  the  scenes  of  this  drama,  the  de- 
nouement was  yet  stranger,  Bustamente  pronouncing  on 
the  30th  in  favor  of  the  federal  system.  During  four 
months  the  Mexican  republic  had  undergone  two  revo- 
lutions, and  at  the  end  of  that  time  found  itself  under  a 
military-  dictatorship ;  in  relation  to  which  we  can  but 
say,  what  all  must  confess,  that  a  people  who  will  submit 
to  such  a  state  of  things,  deserve  no  better. 

Canalizo  and  Almonte  soon  follow^ed  the  example  of 
Bustamente,  and  left  Santa  Anna  uncontrolled.  After 
seven  days  of  perpetual  cannonading,  the  president  did 
what  he  should  have  done,  when  he  pronounced  for 
federation,  resigned,  and  Santa  Anna  entered  Mexico. 
The  people  who  had  not  sustained  the  president  were, 
however,  too  obstinate  to  welcome  their  conqueror  ;  and 
Madame  Calderon  says,  he  entered  the  city  sternly  and 
silently,  and  after  a  Te  Deum,  at  which  the  archbishop 
officiated,  retired  to  the  palace  of  that  dignitary  at 
Tacubaya,  which  he  preferred  to  the  national  palace  at 
Mexico.  Perhaps  in  this  he  was  prudent ;  a  new  re- 
volution might  have  unseated  him ;  and  a  president  in 
Mexico  is  always  formidable  as  long  as  he  is  unchecked 
by  bolts  and  bars.  A  conviction  of  this  probably  in- 
duced Alaman  to  shoot  the  brave  Guerrero. 

Valencia  and  Paredes  had  each  governments  offered 
them,  but  the  former  refused  to  leave  his  division,  which 
had  enabled  him  to  play  the  part,  on  a  small  scale,  of 
the  Warwick  king-makers. 

The  new  ministry  were :  Gomez  Pedraza,  for  foreign 


SANTA  ANNA.  187 

and  home  relations;  Castillo,  for  public  instruction; 
Tornel,  for  war  and  marine ;  and  Dufoo,  for  the  treasury. 
Paredes,  too,  insisted  on  keeping  his  command,  and  the 
only  person  who  seems  to  have  reaped  any  advantage 
was  Santa  Anna.  All  who  know  Mexico,  however,  say 
that  on  account  of  this  revolution  various  indemnities 
were  not  paid,  and  Mexican  bonds  w^ere  far  below  par 
in  London  and  New  York.  Soon  after  this  revolution 
Mr.  Thompson  arrived  in  Mexico,  and  states  that  he 
heard  from  all,  that  Bustamente  was  one  of  the  purest 
men  who  as  yet  had  occupied  the  Mexican  executive 
chair.  If  so,  why  was  he  not  able  to  retain  his  power  ? 
The  Mexican  people  were  opposed  to  him  because  they 
were  unworthy  of  him,  and  Santa  Anna  was  his  enemy 
because  he  could  not  make  him  his  instrument.  General 
Bustamente  retired  at  once  to  Guadalupe,  and  soon  after 
left  Mexico. 

Santa  Anna  was  now  dictator.  How  completely  he 
had  possession  of  Mexico  the  following  extract  from  a 
letter  pubhshed  in  a  Boston  paper  in  November  1842, 
will  show : 

"Mexico,  Sept.  28th. — Yesterday  was  buried,  with 
great  pomp  and  solemnity,  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Paul, 
the  foot  which  his  excellency,  President  Santa  Anna,  lost 
in  the  action  of  the  5th  of  December,  1838.  It  was 
deposited  in  a  monument  erected  for  the  purpose,  Don 
Ignacio  Sierra  y  Roza  having  pronounced  a  funeral  dis- 
course appropriate  to  the  subject."* 

Santa  Anna  was,  during  this  time,  dictator  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  term ;  a  power  conferred  on  him  by  a  vote 

*  Afterwards,  when  Santa  Anna  was  exiled,  this  honored 
member  was  exhumed,  and  dragged  through  the  streets  with 
shouts  of  derision  by  the  leperos. 


188  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

of  the  congress  of  Mexico,  until  a  constitution  had  been 
formed.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
the  people  requested  him  to  terminate  the  legislative  ses- 
sions of  that  congress  which  was  the  guarantee  of  their 
rights.  In  the  December  of  the  same  year,  the  presi- 
dent complied  with  their  requests,  and  convened,  in  the 
place  of  the  congress,  a  junta  of  notables,  to  prepare  a 
new  constitution.  The  result  of  their  deliberations  was, 
not  a  new  constitution,  for  they  dared  not  apply  that 
name  to  their  monster  generation,  but  the  Bases  of  the 
political  organization  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  pro- 
claimed June  13,  1843.  The  following  were  some  of 
the  provisions  of  this  instrument : — 

Slavery  is  for  ever  prohibited. 

The  liberty  of  the  press  is  guarantied ;  a  guarantee, 
however,  purely  theoretical :  it  is  no  more  free  than  in 
France,  nor  as  free. 

Equally  theoretical  is  the  provision  that  no  one  shall 
be  arrested  but  by  the  authority  of  law. 

No  taxes  to  be  imposed  but  by  the  legislative  au- 
thority. 

Private  property  not  to  be  taken  for  public  uses  but 
with  just  compensation. 

Mexicans  to  be  preferred  for  public  offices  to 
strangers,  if  their  quahfications  are  equal. 

Persons  who  have  attained  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
are  entitled  to  the  rights  of  citizens,  if  married ;  if  un- 
married, twenty-one  years;  and  who  have  an  annual 
income  of  two  hundred  dollars,  either  from  labor  or  the 
profits  of  capital. 

After  the  year  1850,  those  only  are  to  exercise  the 
privileges  of  a  citizen  who  can  read  and  write. 

By  becoming  a  domestic  servant,  the  privileges  of  a 
citizen  are  suspended  :  so,  also,  pending  a  criminal  pro- 


SANTA    ANNA.  189 

secution,  being  a  habitual  drunkard  or  gambler,  a  va- 
grant, or  keeping  a  gaming-house. 

The  rights  of  citizenship  are  lost  by  conviction  of  an 
infamous  crime,  or  for  fraudulent  bankruptcy,  or  by 
malversation  in  any  public  office. 

The  legislative  power  is  composed  of  a  house  of 
deputies  and  a  senate ;  one  deputy  for  every  seventy 
thousand  inhabitants.  A  supernumerary  deputy  shall 
be  elected  in  all  cases  to  serve  in  the  absence  of  the 
regular  deputy. 

The  age  prescribed  for  members  of  congress  is  thirty 
years.     They  must  have  an  annual  income  of  twelve 
hundred  dollars.     One-half  of  the  members  to  be  re 
elected  every  two  years. 

The  senate  is  composed  of  sixty-three  members,  two- 
thirds  of  whom  are  to  be  elected  by  the  departmental 
assemblies;  the  other  third  by  the  house  of  deputies, 
the  president  of  the  republic,  and  the  supreme  court ; 
each  department  to  vote  for  forty-three  persons,  and 
those  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  of  the  aggre- 
gate of  all  the  departmental  assemblies  are  elected  sena- 
tors. The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  and  the  presi- 
dent shall  vote  in  like  manner  for  the  remaining  third  ; 
and  out  of  the  names  thus  voted  for  by  each  of  those 
departments  of  the  government,  the  house  of  deputies 
selects  the  proper  number  (twenty-one).  The  first 
selection  of  this  third  of  the  senators  to  be  made  by  the 
president  (Santa  Anna)  alone. 

The  president  of  the  republic  and  judges  of  the 
supreme  court  are  required  to  vote  only  for  such  per- 
sons as  have  distinguished  themselves  by  important 
public  services,  civil,  military,  or  ecclesiastical.  Amongst 
others  disquahfied  from  being  elected  members  of  the 


190  MKMCO    AND    HLR    MILITARY    CHitFTAlNS. 

house  of  deputies,  are  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and 
other  high  ecclesiastical  officers. 

The  senators  elected  by  the  departments  are  required 
to  be  five  agriculturists,  and  the  same  number  of  each 
of  the  following  occupations  —  miners,  merchants,  and 
manufacturers :  the  remainder  to  be  elected  from  persons 
who  have  filled  the  office  of  president,  minister  of  state, 
foreign  minister,  governor  of  a  department,  senator, 
deputy,  bishop,  or  general  of  division.  The  age  of  a 
senator  is  thirty-five  years,  and  an  annual  income  of  two 
thousand  dollars  is  required. 

One-third  of  the  senate  to  be  renewed  every  three 
years. 

All  laws  must  originate  in  the  house  of  deputies. 

All  treaties  must  be  approved  by  both  houses  of  con- 
gress. Congress  has  a  veto  upon  all  the  decrees  of  the 
departmental  assembUes  which  are  opposed  to  the  con- 
stitution or  the  laws  of  congress. 

Congress  are  forbidden  to  alter  the  laws  lapng  duties 
on  imports  which  are  intended  for  the  protection  of  do- 
mestic industry. 

No  retrospective  law  or  laws  impairing  the  obligation 
of  contracts  to  be  passed. 

The  senate  to  approve  the  president's  nomination  of 
foreign  ministers,  consuls,  and  of  officers  in  the  army 
above  the  rank  of  colonel. 

Members  of  congress  not  to  receive  executive  appoint- 
ments except  with  certain  limitations,  amongst  which  is 
the  consent  of  the  body  to  which  they  belong. 

The  other  powers  of  congress  are  nearly  the  same  as 
in  our  own  or  other  popular  constitutions.  The  presi- 
dent must  be  a  native  of  the  country,  and  a  layman,  and 
holds  his  office  for  the  term  of  five  years.     It  is  made 


SANTA   ANNA.  191 

his  duty  to  supervise  the  courts  of  justice,  and  he  may 
prescribe  the  order  in  which  cases  shall  be  tried.  He 
may  impose  fines,  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars, 
upon  those  who  disobey  his  lawful  commands.  Certain 
large  powers  are  conferred  upon  him  in  relation  to  con- 
cordats, bulls,  decrees,  and  other  ecclesiastical  matters. 
He  possesses  a  very  qualified  veto  upon  the  acts  of  con- 
gress. He  may  call  an  extra  session  of  congress,  and 
prescribe  the  only  subjects  to  be  considered.  The  pre- 
sident not  to  exercise  any  military  command  without 
the  consent  of  congress.  Not  to  leave  the  republic 
during  his  term  of  office,  nor  for  one  year  after  its  expi- 
ration, but  with  the  consent  of  congress,  nor  to  go 
more  than  six  leagues  from  the  capital,  without  the  like 
permission.  He  shall  in  no  case  alienate,  exchange,  or 
mortgage  any  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  republic. 
All  his  acts  must  be  approved  by  the  secretary  of  the 
department  to  which  it  properly  belongs.  He  cannot 
be  prosecuted  criminally,  except  for  treason  against 
the  national  independence,  or  the  form  of  government 
established  by  the  constitution  during  his  term  of  office, 
nor  for  one  year  afterwards. 

During  the  temporary  absence  of  the  president,  his 
functions  devolve  upon  the  president  of  the  senate ;  if 
his  absence  continues  longer  than  fifteen  days,  a  presi- 
dent ad  interim  shall  be  elected  by  the  senate.  The 
other  grants  of  power  to  the  executive  seem  to  be  pretty 
much  copied  from  our  own  constitution. 

The  different  secretaries  may  attend  the  sessions  of 
either  branch  of  congress,  w^henever  required  by  them, 
or  so  ordered  by  the  president,  to  give  any  explana- 
tions which  may  be  desired.  The  secretaries  are 
responsible  for  all   acts  of  the  president  in  violation 


192         MEXICO    AND    HEB    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

of  the  constitution  and  laws  which  they  may  have 
approved. 

The  council  of  the  president  consists  of  seventeen 
members,  selected  by  himself.  These  councillors  must 
be  thirty-five  years  old,  and  have  served  at  least  ten 
years,  without  intermission,  in  some  public  station. 

The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  must  be  forty 
years  old. 

The  government  may  be  impleaded  in  this  court  by 
any  individual  (I  think  a  wise  and  just  provision) ;  as 
may  also  the  archbishops  and  bishops  in  particular 
cases. 

A  permanent  court-martial  is  also  organized,  com- 
posed of  generals  and  lawyers,  appointed  by  the  pre- 
sident. 

Each  department  has  an  assembly  of  not  more  than 
eleven,  nor  less  than  seven  members.  Their  powers  are 
to  impose  taxes  for  the  use  of  the  department ;  establish 
schools  and  charitable  institutions ;  make  roads  and  keep 
them  in  order ;  arrange  the  mode  of  raising  troops  which 
may  be  required  of  the  department ;  estabhsh  corpora- 
tions, superintend  the  police,  and  encourage  agriculture ; 
propose  laws  to  the  congress,  and  fit  persons  to  the  pre- 
sident for  the  office  of  governor  of  the  department  (from 
the  persons  thus  recommended,  the  president,  except  in 
extraordinary  cases,  must  make  the  selection)  ;  establish 
judicial  tribunals  for  their  departments,  with  many  other 
powers  of  a  similar  character ;  and  constituting  the 
assembly  a  sort  of  state  legislature,  with  jurisdiction  of 
matters  appertaining  strictly  to  the  department. 

The  whole  republic  is  divided  into  sections  of  five 
hundred  inhabitants.  Each  of  these  sections  selects  by 
ballot  one  elector.     These  electors  in  turn  elect  others, 


SANTA    ANNA.  193 

in  the  ratio  of  one  for  every  twenty  of  the  electors  thus 
primarily  elected.  These  last  constitute  the  electoral 
college  of  the  department,  which  again  elect  the  depu- 
ties of  the  general  congress,  and  the  members  of  the 
departmental  assembly.  All  persons  who  have  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  are  eligible  as  primary 
electors.  The  secondary  electors  must  also  have  an 
income  of  five  hundred  dollars  a  year.  On  the  first  of 
November  preceding  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  office 
of  the  president,  each  of  the  departmental  assemblies  is 
required  to  meet  and  cast  their  votes  for  his  successor. 
A  majority  of  the  votes  of  this  assembly  decides  the 
vote  of  the  department.  On  the  second  day  of  January, 
both  houses  of  congress  assemble  together  and  declare 
the  election.  If  no  one  has  received  the  votes  of  a  ma- 
jority of  the  departments,  the  two  houses  of  congress 
make  the  election  from  the  two  w^ho  have  received  the 
greatest  number  of  votes.  If  more  than  two  have  an 
equal  number  of  votes,  the  election  is  made  from  those 
who  have  received  such  equal  number.  If  one  has  re- 
ceived a  higher  number,  and  two  others  have  received 
a  less  and  equal  number  of  votes,  congress  selects,  by 
ballot,  one  of  these  last  to  compete  with  him  who  has 
received  a  higher  number.  This  election  is  required  to 
be  finished  in  a  single  session. 

In  cases  of  a  tie  a  second  time  in  these  elections,  the 
choice  is  to  be  made  by  lot. 

Punishments  shall  in  no  case  extend  to  confiscation 
of  property,  or  to  attainder. 

No  cruel   punishment  shall  be  inflicted  in  capital 
cases,  only  such  as  are  necessary  to  take  life. 

The  judges  are  responsible  for  any  irregularities  or 
mistakes  in  their  official  proceedings.     They  hold  their 
offices  for  hfe. 
13 


194  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Amendments  of  the  constitution  to  be  made  by  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  both  branches  of  congress. 

The  CathoUc  rehgion  is  estabUshed  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  others.  Most  of  the  other  provisions  of  the  consti- 
tution seem  to  be  almost  exactly  copied  from  that  of  the 
United  States. 

Santa  Anna  was  inaugurated  under  this  instrument, 
January  1,  1841. 

This  is  by  no  means  a  constitution,  but  is  calculated 
to  give  an  idea  of  Mexico  far  more  exalted  than  any 
generally  entertained.  It  could  scarcely  be  expected 
that  a  people  just  emerged  from  civil  war  would  be  able 
to  provide  for  all  things,  and  foresee  all  difficulties ;  but 
it  will  appear  that  most  of  the  requisitions  of  society 
have  at  least  been  remembered. 

This  may  be  considered  as  the  realization  of  the 
schemes  of  which  Santa  Anna  sketched  the  outlines 
when  he  achieved  the  revolution  which  deposed  Bus- 
tamente.  Thus  again  did  this  chieftain  succeed  in 
fastening  on  the  people  the  central  system,  which  revo- 
lution after  revolution  had  each  time  seemed  to  throw 
off.  It  was  his  work  only,  and  he  only  is  responsible 
for  its  effects.  The  people,  however,  seemed  satisfied 
with  it ;  and  the  reason  is,  that  the  people  in  Mexico 
are  few  in  numbers,  while  the  populace  is  immense  ; 
and  that  all  power  was  collected  in  the  hands  of  a  very 
small  number  of  that  people.  No  one,  we  fancy,  will 
call  Mexico  a  republic,  or  Santa  Anna  a  patriot,  as 
Mr.  Thompson  says  he  is  not  a  model  man,  but  he  is  a 
great  one.  He  has  outlived  all  his  early  associates, 
while  every  man  who  began  hfe  with  him  is  either  dead 
or  in  exile.  He  rides  above  the  storm,  the  very 
heavings  of  which  he  fashions  to  his  will. 

The  condition  of  Mexico  at  the  present  day  recalls  a 


SANTA   ANNA.  195 

passage  of  one  of  the  letters  of  Jacopo  Ortiz,  in  relation 
to  his  own  Italy,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century ; 

"  Italy,"  says  he,  "  has  soldiers,  but  they  are  not 
her  defenders  ;  she  has  friars  and  monks,  who  are  not 
priests  ;  she  has  counts  and  marquises,  but  no  nobihty  ; 
and  a  populace,  but  not  a  people."  To  create  this 
was  the  mission  of  the  Italian  patriots,  who  failed 
in  driving  the  strangers  from  her  soil  ;  w^hich  the 
Mexicans  have  already  achieved  for  themselves.  The 
world  has  hopes  of  Italy,  which  yet  wTithes  beneath 
the  heel  of  the  Austrian ;  why  should  it  not  be  hopeful 
of  Mexico,  on  the  soil  of  which  the  Spaniard  has  not 
stood  for  twenty  years  ? 

Canalizo,  it  will  be  remembered,  w^as  the  confidant 
of  Bustamente  when  Paredes  went  over  to  Valencia  on 
his  attacking  the  president,  to  whom  he  had  made  such 
professions  of  attachment  in  July,  1842.  Even  after 
the  resignation  of  Bustamente,  Canalizo  held  out  for 
some  time  with  but  three  hundred  men,  and  by  his  valor 
w^on  the  name  of  "  El  Lion  de  Mejico.'^  As  soon  as 
all  was  settled,  Santa  Anna  determined,  Richelieu-like, 
to  blot  him  from  the  list  of  his  enemies  by  favors,  and 
appointed  him  in  his  absence  president  ad  interim ;  an 
exhibition  of  shrewdness  w^hich  subsequent  events  have 
proved  prudent.  With  Valencia  he  soon  quarrelled,  and 
stripped  him  of  his  command,  and  caused  Paredes  to  be 
arrested  at  Tula.  Paredes  was  a  resident  of  Guadala- 
jara, a  district  represented  as  the  bestin  Mexico  in  point 
of  wealth,  the  cultivation  of  its  lands,  and  information 
of  its  inhabitants  ;  and  having  been  permitted  to  return 
thither,  he  set  about  the  organization  of  his  friends,  so 
that  it  became  obvious  he  was  about  to  pronounce  on  the 
first  opportunity.    Santa  Anna  too,  it  is  probable,  became 


196  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

aware  of  this,  and,  anxious  to  remove  him  from  the  scene 
of  his  influence,  called  him  to  Mexico,  and  in  terms  of 
the  greatest  conciliation  appointed  him  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Sonora  and  Sinaloa.  On  passing  through  Gua- 
dalajara, the  friends  of  Paredes  flew  to  arms,  and  a  pro- 
nunciamento  was  made,  which  resulted  in  the  downfall 
of  Santa  Anna.  The  afl'air  at  the  very  beginning  looked 
so  dangerous  that  Santa  Anna,  contrary  to  one  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Organic  Bases,  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  troops  in  the  capital,  leaving  Canalizo  to  manage 
the  government,  and  marched  to  suppress  the  outbreak. 
Before,  however,  he  had  advanced  far  on  the  route,  the 
provinces  near  the  capital  also  pronounced,  and  he  was 
forced  to  return  to  the  city,  where  Canalizo  was  alto- 
gether unable  to  manage  his  numerous  opponents. 
The  prGnunciamento  of  Paredes  complained  of  the  dis- 
organization of  the  army,  the  dilapidation  of  the  finances, 
entire  disorder  in  all  departments  of  the  government, 
and  the  failure  of  the  various  expeditions  against  Texas, 
solely  on  account  of  the  incompetency  or  neglect  of  the 
president.  He  concluded  this  manifesto  with  a  demand 
thai  all  acts  of  Santa  Anna  between  the  16th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1S40,  and  the  end  of  184^3,  should  be  submitted 
to  the  approval  of  the  supreme  congress,  and  the  pre- 
sident, in  the  meantime,  be  suspended  from  his  glorious 
functions  of  Chief  ^Magistrate  of  Mexico.  Santa  Anna 
has  always  handled  the  pen  as  readily  as  the  sword,  and 
addressed  a  proclamation  to  his  army,  in  which  he  ap- 
pealed to  their  sense  of  duty,  and  called  on  them  to 
support  him.  The  civil  war  spread  through  Jalisco, 
Aguas-calientes,  Queretaro,  San  Luis  de  Potosi,  and  Za- 
catecas,  all  of  which  openly  declared  against  Santa  Anna. 
Nor  was  this  all.  General  Alvarez,  who  commanded 
in  the  southern  departments,  also  pronmmced,  and  the 


SANTA  ANNA.  197 

disaffection  became  general.  The  first  act  of  Paredes 
was  to  suspend  the  imposts  levied  for  the  ostensible  pur- 
pose ©f  invading  Texas,  which  had  long  been  very 
obnoxious.  Vera  Cruz  finally  began  to  show  signs  of 
revolt,  which,  however,  were  suppressed  by  General 
Quixano. 

Things  might  have  remained  in  this  condition  for  a 
long  time,  but  on  the  2d  of  December,  1844,  Canalizo, 
the  president  ad  interim,  assumed  the  responsibility  of 
closing  the  session  of  congress,  and  of  declaring  Santa 
Anna  dictator.  For  some  days,  this  palpable  violation 
of  the  constitution  apparently  attracted  but  little  atten- 
tion, but  on  its  being  reported  at  Puebla,  the  command- 
er-in-chief also  pronounced  against  Santa  Anna.  On  the 
5th,  the  garrison  and  people  of  the  city  cast  off  their 
torpor,  and  imprisoned  Canalizo  and  his  ministers.  The 
congress  immediately  assembled  and  appointed  General 
Herrera  president  pro  tempore.  A  new  ministry  was  ap- 
pointed by  Herrera,  to  the  authority  of  which  the  whole 
country,  including  Vera  Cruz,  the  strong-hold  of  Santa 
Anna,  at  once  yielded  obedience.  The  new  ministry 
was  composed  of  Herrera,  president  of  the  cabinet  and 
depository  of  the  executive  power ;  Gonzago  Cuevas, 
minister  of  foreign  affairs ;  Mariano  Riva  Palacios,  min- 
ister of  justice ;  Pedro  Jesus  Echavarri,  minister  of 
finances ;  and  Pedro  Garcia  Conde,  of  war  and  marine. 

Santa  Anna  was  left  almost  alone  at  Queretaro,  with  a 
few  troops,  already  wavering  in  their  attachment,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  appeal  of  Garcia  Conde,  who  bade  them 
leave  Santa  Anna  and  participate  in  the  advantages  of  the 
new  regime.  Santa  Anna  was,  it  will  be  remembered, 
deposed  from  the  command,  and  finally,  by  the  proclama- 
tion of  Garcia  Conde,  referred  to  above,  was  notified 
that  he  still  was  the  constitutional  president,  and,  as  such, 


i0B         MEXICO    AND    HER    iMILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

debarred  from  command  without  the  consent  of  con- 
gress. His  situation  thus  become  drear  enough,  and  it 
was  obvious  his  chance  of  regaining  power  must  continue 
slight,  unless  some  great  crisis  should  occur  in  which 
his  one  idea,  self,  might  have  an  opportunity  to  under- 
mine the  many-phased  Mexican  republic. 

Santa  Anna  was  a  man  for  great  emergencies,  and 
sought  out  of  the  "  nettle  danger  to  pluck  the  flower 
safety,"  by  a  coup  de  main  against  the  capital;  when, 
however,  within  sight  of  the  city,  these  men  declared 
against  him.  He  then  proceeded  towards  Vera  Cruz, 
whence  he  was  also  repulsed.  It  was  now  obvious  to 
him  that  all  was  over,  as  he  was  deserted  by  the 
remnant  of  his  troops,  except  about  two  thousand  five 
hundred  men  of  all  arms.  He,  however,  made  an  attack 
on  Puebla,  from  which  he  was  repulsed,  and  fled  to  San 
Antonio,  with  one  thousand  horse.  He  fled  thence  at 
night  towards  Encerro  almost  alone,  but  was  recognised 
by  a  part}-  of  Indians  at  Mico,  three  leagues  from  Jalapa, 
detained,  and  subsequently  surrendered  to  the  com- 
mander of  the  neighboring  city.  He  addressed,  on  the 
22d  of  January,  a  most  humiliating  petition  to  the  con- 
gress, in  which  he  adopts  the  European  maxim,  that  the 
king  can  do  no  wrong,  and  oflTered  to  substitute  his  min- 
isters for  himself  to  fulfil  the  requisitions  of  justice.  His 
address  stated  ''that  after  the  many  privations  and  mor- 
tifications to  which  he  had  been  subjected,  he  presumed 
they  would  be  satisfied  in  awarding  no  other  penalty 
against  him  than  perpetual  exile." 

His  address  contained  this  remarkable  passage: 
«^  Napoleon,  after  having  outraged  all  Europe,  was 
exiled  to  Saint  Helena,  and  France,  over  whom  he  had 
long  t}Tannized,  thought  herself  sufficiently  avenged. 
My  services  have   not   equalled   his,  but   I   have  the 


SANTA    ANNA.  199 

advantage  over  him  in  other  respects.  I  can  show  by 
my  mutilated  body,  that  I  have  suffered  for  Mexico. 
The  august  chambers  will  then,  accept  my  solemn  abdi- 
cation of  the  presidency,  and  permit  me  to  assume  eter- 
nal exiky  It  was  generally  supposed  in  Mexico,  that 
congress  would  confiscate  his  property,  especially  as 
it  became  generally  known  that  from  apprehension  of 
some  such  difficulty,  he  had  sent  eight  thousand  doub- 
loons (one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  dol- 
lars) by  a  previous  packet  to  Havana,  and  had  also 
invested  in  European  funds,  more  than  one  million  of 
dollars. 

The  congress  continued  to  debate  on  its  course  in 
this  crisis,  and  the  friends  of  Santa  Anna  rallied  around 
him,  so  that  at  one  time,  it  became  probable  he  would 
be  able  to  resume  his  power.  In  the  long  intrigues 
which  took  place,  he  was  ably  sustained  by  Almonte, 
but  was,  on  a  final  vote,  banished  for  ten  years.  He 
was  also  stripped  of  a  great  portion  of  his  money,  his 
estate  being  suffered  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  his 
administrador  or  agent.  This  occurred  during  the  early 
part  of  June,  1845,  and  he  immediately  embarked  on 
board  of  the  English  steamer  Med  way,  in  the  river  An- 
tigua, about  twelve  miles  north  of  Vera  Cruz,  accom- 
panied only  by  his  wife,  a  young  woman  of  fortune,  of 
about  sixteen  years  of  age,  whom  he  had  married  not 
long  previously,  his  nephew  and  a  few  personal  friends. 
A  general  amnesty  was  then  proclaimed,  and  congress, 
by  a  large  vote,  authorized  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty 
recognising  the  independence  of  Texas,  provided  it 
should  not  become  annexed  to  the  United  States. 
Santa  Anna  immediately  left  the  country  for  Havana, 
and  it  appeared  probable  that  Mexico  would  at  length 
be  at  peace. 


200  MEXICO    AND    UEB.    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

There  Santa  Anna  remained,  until  by  the  events  of  the 
existing  war  he  was,  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
Mexican  people,  recalled,  and  immediately  restored  to 
power. 

On  his  return  to  Vera  Cruz,  he  published  a  proclama- 
tion so  strange  in  itself,  but  so  curious,  both  as  a 
demonstration  of  the  manner  in  which  he  has  ever  led 
the  Mexican  people,  that  it  will  not  be  considered 
irrelevant,  in  spite  of  its  length,  to  reprint  it. 

Vera  Cruz,  August  16,  1846. 

Mexicans  :  Called  by  the  people  and  the  garrisons 
of  the  departments  of  Jalisco,  Vera  Cruz,  and  Sinaloa, 
South  Mexico,  and  other  points  of  the  repubhc,  I 
quitted  Havana  on  the  8th  inst.,  at  nine  in  the  evening, 
w4th  the  sole  object  of  coming  to  aid  you  in  saving  our 
country  from  its  enemies,  internal  and  external.  Great 
has  been  my  joy,  when,  on  arriving  at  this  point,  I 
learned  that  the  former  had  been  overthrown  by  your 
own  forces ;  and  that  I  was  already  proclaimed,  on  all 
sides,  as  general-in-chief  of  the  liberating  army.  A 
proof  of  so  much  confidence  will  be  met  by  me  with  the 
utmost  loyalty  ;  but  on  accepting  the  plan  proclaimed, 
allow  me  to  enter  into  some  explanation,  which  I 
consider  necessary,  in  order  to  dispel  any  suspicions 
founded  on  a  past,  the  recollections  of  which  are  so 
painful  to  me. 

Desiring  to  consolidate  peace  in  the  interior  of  the 
republic,  in  order  to  make  it  flourish  and  prosper,  and 
to  assure  by  that  means  the  integrity  of  our  immense 
territory,  I  devoted  all  my  efforts,  in  consequence  of  the 
events  of  1834,  to  establish  an  administration  endowed 
with  vigor  and  energy,  and  capable  of  keeping  down 
the  spirit  of  turbulence  and  discord.      Without  ever 


SANTA    ANNA.  201 

going  beyond  republican  forms,  I  endeavored  for  this 
purpose  to  support  myself  on  property,  on  high  position, 
on  creeds,  and  even  on  the  few  historical  memorials 
existing  in  our  country ;  hoping  thus  to  moderate,  by 
the  inertia  of  conservative  instincts,  the  vehemence  of 
popular  masses.  But  without  ascendancy  and  prestige, 
as  I  was,  and  the  elements  assembled  by  me  being 
viewed  with  distrust,  resistance  was  made  on  all  sides ; 
which  I,  however,  expected  to  overcome  in  time.  I 
call  on  God  to  witness,  that  in  this  I  acted  with 
patriotism,  with  sincerity,  and  with  good  faith. 

After  some  years  of  trial,  I  began  to  remark  that 
the  republic  did  not  advance;  that  some  departments 
showed  tendencies  of  separation  from  the  others  ;  and 
that  the  public  discontent  was  daily  increasing. — 
Wavering  then  in  my  convictions,  they  afterw^ards  lost 
all  their  power,  when  a  part  of  the  country  had  been 
occupied  by  strangers,  and  our  national  existence  of  the 
whole  was  endangered.  I  called  on  the  people  to  the 
rescue,  and  they  answered  me  with  threats ;  as  if  any  other 
misfortune  could  have  been  preferable  to  that  in  which 
the  country  then  was  placed.  Urged  by  the  firm 
determination  that  we  should  be  a  sovereign  and  inde- 
pendent people,  and  knowing,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
vast  resources  on  which  we  could  rely  for  support,  I 
then  became  convinced  that  our  government,  being 
organized  in  a  manner  by  no  means  conformable  with 
the  wishes  of  the  nation,  and  governed  by  secondary 
legislature,  not  adapted  for  the  advancement  of  its 
interests,  the  people  revenged  themselves  in  that  way, 
by  seeking  for  an  occasion  in  w^hich  they  should  be 
called  on  to  take  care  of  their  own  good,  and  to 
organize  their  government  in  a  manner  which  they 
should  consider  most  proper. 


202  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

In  our  time,  we  have  seen  another  nation,  in  a 
similar  conflict,  employing  similar  means  to  oblige  its 
goverament  to  promise  the  representative  system  which 
it  was  anxious  to  have  established,  and  when  that  had 
been  obtained,  we  have  seen  its  moral  apathy  changed 
into  heroic  enthusiasm  against  the  foreign  invader  who 
endeavored  to  subjugate  it.  Is  there  anything,  there- 
fore, strange  in  the  idea  that  our  people  should,  in  this 
instance,  do  as  much  to  recover  the  full  enjoyment  of 
their  sovereignty,  acknowledged  by  all  governments, 
though  trodden  under  foot  by  all,  in  the  practical 
administration  of  affairs  ?  On  this  point  I  owe  to  my 
countr)',  in  consideration  of  the  part  which  I  have  taken, 
to  declare  frankly  and  honestly,  upon  this  critical  and 
solemn  occasion,  that  it  can  be  saved  only  by  a  return 
to  first  principles,  with  entire  submission  of  the  minority 
to  the  sovereign  will  of  the  majority  of  the  nation. 

Upon  proof  so  clear  and  peremptory,  of  the  serious 
difficulties  attending  that  which  I  had  considered  best 
calculated  to  secure  to  the  republic  respectability  abroad, 
I  found  it  right  to  recede,  and  to  yield  to  public  opinion^, 
and  follow  it  with  the  same  ardor  and  constancy  with 
which  I  had  opposed  it  before  comprehending  it.  To 
discover  the  most  effective  means  of  raising  the  spirit  of 
the  public,  and  predisposing  it  to  the  war,  with  which 
we  were  threatened  on  the  north,  was  my  employment ; 
and  I  was  beginning  to  develope  the  measures  for  that 
purpose,  when  the  events  of  the  6th  of  December,  1844, 
occurred,  and  plunged  the  republic  into  the  miserable 
situation  in  which  you  now  see  it. 

Expatriated  from  that  time  for  ever  from  the  national 
territory',  with  a  prohibition  to  return  to  it  under  the 
hard  penalty  of  death,  the  obstacle  which  I  was  sup- 
posed to  present  to  the  establishment  of  an  administra- 


SAXTA    ANNA.  203 

five  system,  conformable  with  public  exigencies,  being 
removed,  I  believed  that  the  men  who  had  succeeded 
in  placing  themselves  in  my  stead,  by  calling  public 
opinion  to  their  aid  in  effecting  it,  would  respect  that 
opinion,  and  summon  the  nation  to  organize  its  govern- 
ment according  to  its  own  wishes.  Pained,  as  I  was, 
not  to  be  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  real  regeneration 
of  the  country,  I  still  most  sincerely  desired  it ;  because 
I  believed  that  whilst  our  political  horizon  was  daily  be- 
coming darker,  no  other  means  was  left  to  save  us. 

My  prayers  for  this  were  redoubled,  on  seeing  that,  in 
consequence  of  the  development  of  the  invasive  policy 
of  the  United  States,  stimulated  by  the  perfidy  of  the 
cabinet  of  General  Herrera,  on  the  serious  question  of 
our  northern  frontiers,  the  European  press  began  to  indi- 
cate the  necessity  of  a  foreign  intervention  in  our  domes- 
tic concerns,  in  order  to  preserve  us  from  the  ambitious 
projects  of  the  neighboring  republic.  That,  however, 
which  raised  my  uneasiness  to  the  greatest  height,  was 
to  see  in  a  newspaper  of  credit  and  influence,  published 
in  the  old  world,  a  proposition  made  in  October  last,  to 
bring  us  back,  by  force,  under  the  yoke  of  our  ancient 
masters.  My  conviction  was,  nevertheless,  still  strong, 
that  no  Mexican,  however  weak  might  be  his  feelings 
of  attachment  for  his  country,  would  dare  to  favor  such 
ideas  openly,  and  still  less  to  recommend  them  to  the 
consideration  of  the  people. 

Meanwhile,  news  reached  me  of  a  revolution  pro- 
jected by  General  Paredes,  which  revived  my  hopes ; 
for  though  he  had  been  the  determined  enemy  of  every 
representative  popular  government,  I  supposed  that  he 
had  altered  his  opinions,  and  I  honored  him  so  far  as  to 
believe  him  incapable  of  advancing  schemes  for  European 
interv^ention,  in  the  interior  administration  of  the  repub- 


204         MEXICO    A_XD    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

lie.  He  succeeded,  and  his  manifesto  declaring  his  ad- 
hesion to  the  plan  proposed  by  the  troops  quartered  at 
San  Luis  Potosi,  increased  my  uneasiness ;  because  I 
clearly  saw  in  it  a  diatribe  against  the  independence  of 
the  nation,  rather  than  the  patriotic  address  of  a  Mexican 
general,  seeking,  in  good  faith,  to  remedy  the  evils  of 
his  country.  His  perverse  designs  were,  in  fine,  fully 
revealed,  as  well  by  his  summons  [for  the  assemblage  of 
congress]  of  the  24th  of  last  January,  issued  in  conse- 
quence of  this  revolution,  as  by  the  newspapers  showing 
the  tendency  of  his  administration  to  the  establishment 
of  a  monarchy,  under  a  foreign  prince,  in  the  republic. 

As  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  independence 
of  our  country,  and  the  founder  of  the  republican  sys- 
tem, I  was  then  indignant  at  this  endeavor  of  some  of 
its  sons  to  deliver  the  nation  up  to  the  scoffs  of  the 
world,  and  to  carry  it  back  to  the  ominous  days  of  the 
conquest.  I  thereupon  took  the  firm  determination  to 
come  and  aid  you  to  save  our  country  from  such  a  stain, 
and  to  avoid  the  horrible  consequences  of  a  measure  by 
which  its  glorious  destiny  was  to  be  reversed,  carrying 
it  back  to  what  it  was,  and  to  what  it  never  should  be 
again.  To  execute  this  determination,  was  to  offer  up 
my  blood  to  any  one  who,  in  case  of  failure,  might 
choose  to  shed  it,  in  compliance  with  the  terms  of  the 
barbarous  decree  which  drove  me  from  the  republic; 
but  I  preferred  to  perish  in  this  noble  attempt,  rather 
than  appear  indifferent  to  the  ignominy  of  my  country, 
and  see  the  countless  sacrifices  made  for  our  indepen- 
dence, and  the  right  to  govern  ourselves,  all  rendered 
illusory. 

Mexicans  :  The  real  objects  of  those  who,  while  invo- 
king order  and  tranquillity,  have  constantly  endeavored 
to  prevent  the  nation  firom  organizing  its  government 


SANTA    ANNA.  205 

as  it  chose,  have  now  been  laid  open ;  and  the  time  is 
come  when  all  true  republicans  of  all  parties,  the  body 
of  the  people  as  well  as  the  array,  should  unite  their 
efforts  sincerely,  in  order  to  secure  entirely  the  indepen- 
dence of  our  country,  and  to  place  it  at  liberty  to  adopt 
the  form  of  government  most  suitable  to  its  wishes,  each 
sacrificing  his  own  individual  convictions  to  the  will  of 
the  majority.  How,  indeed,  can  the  minority,  however 
wise,  opulent,  and  powerful  they  may  be,  pretend  to  as- 
sume to  themselves  the  right  to  regulate  the  affairs  of 
the  community,  or  to  govern  the  majority,  without  an 
express  delegation  from  the  latter,  given  of  their  own 
accord,  not  presumed,  nor  still  less  extorted  by  force  ? 
This  may  be  among  people  who  are  ignorant  of  their 
own  rights,  and  where  the  want  of  the  means  of  inde- 
pendent subsistence  subjects  the  many  to  the  few,  who 
have  monopolized  everything;  but  it  is  not  to  be 
effected  among  us,  in  whom  the  democratic  spirit,  in 
the  midst  of  so  many  favoring  circumstances,  has  been 
developing  itself  for  thirty-six  years,  and  now  renders 
imperious  and  decisive,  the  necessity  of  concentrating 
by  practice,  the  political  axiom  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
nation. 

This  most  essential  circumstance  has  been  disre- 
garded and  despised  in  all  the  constitutions  hitherto 
given  to  the  country ;  and  in  the  only  one  which  has 
appeared  most  popular,  the  antagonism  of  the  principles 
adopted,  has  rendered  it  ineffective  ;  so  that  democracy, 
which  alone  can  serve  as  a  solid  basis  for  our  social 
edifice,  has  been  unable  to  develope  itself,  and  thus  to 
afford  the  peace  which  is  its  instinctive  law,  and  the  other 
ineffable  benefits  which  it  produces.  Hence  the  con- 
vulsions which  have  so  long  agitated  us,  and  of  which 
some  European  writers  have  taken  advantage,  so  far  as 


206         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY   CHIEFTAINS. 

to  depreciate  our  race ;  opposing  the  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  republic  ;  manifesting  the  necessity  of 
interference,  in  order  to  strengthen  it  against  the  febrile 
invasion  of  the  United  States ;  and  declaring,  in  fine, 
that  it  would  be  as  easy  to  conquer  Mexico  with  a  por- 
tion of  the  troops,  now  quartered  in  the  island  of  Cuba, 
as  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  native  Mexican  princes.  My 
blood  boils  on  seeing  the  contempt  with  which  we  are 
thus  treated,  by  men  whp  either  do  not  know  us  well, 
or  who,  interested  in  transplanting  among  us  the  fruits  of 
their  old  social  systems,  and  of  tlie  times  in  which  they 
originated,  consider  America  in  the  same  state  in  which 
it  was  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Should  any  attempts 
be  made,  as  indicated,  to  cany-  these  mad  plans  into 
effect,  all  interests  of  race  would  be  silenced,  and  but 
one  voice  would  be  heard  throughout  the  continent. 
The  one  hemisphere  would  then  be  seen  arrayed  against 
the  other,  and  for  the  disasters  w^hich  would  fall  on  the 
rash  aggressor  who  should  thus  attempt  to  interfere  witli 
the  internal  administration  of  other  nations,  he  alone 
w'ould  be  responsible. 

To  pronounce  thus  against  the  many  nations  which 
form  the  great  Hispano-American  family,  to  declare 
them  incapable  of  enjoying  repubhcan  institutions,  is,  in 
fact,  to  be  ignorant  of,  or  to  conceal,  what  is  proved  by 
the  testimony  of  Chili,  New  Grenada,  and  Venezuela, 
in  contradiction  of  such  assertions.  It  is  to  attribute, 
no  doubt  with  evil  intentions,  to  men  of  a  certain  race, 
defects  of  administrative  forms,  which,  not  being 
entirely  democratic,  have  produced  the  bitter  fruits  of 
the  monarchical  forms,  engrafted  on  them,  without 
adverting  to  the  fatal  influence  of  the  latter  on  the  lot 
of  the  others. 

To  expect,  moreover,  to  strengthen  the  nation  by 


SANTA    ANNA.  207 

monarchy,  under  a  foreign  prince,  is  to  suppose  the 
existence  in  it  of  elements  for  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  of  that  system ;  or  that,  wearied  by  its 
struggle  to  conquer  its  liberty,  the  nation  sighs  for 
European  masters,  or  for  anything  else  than  the  peace 
Avhich  alone  it  wants.  Erroneous,  most  erroneous 
indeed  is  this  idea.  In  the  efforts  of  the  nation  to 
emancipate  itself  from  the  power  of  the  few,  who,  in 
good  or  in  bad  faith,  have  endeavored  to  rule  it  in  their 
own  way,  its  democratic  tendencies  have  acquired  such 
a  degree  of  intensity  and  energy,  that  to  oppose  them, 
to  attempt  to  destroy  the  hopes  to  which  they  gave 
birth,  by  a  project  such  as  that  advanced,  would  be  to 
provoke  a  desperate  measure ;  to  endeavor  to  cure  an 
evil  by  the  means  calculated  to  exasperate  it.  Fasci- 
nated by  the  example  of  a  nation  not  yet  a  century  old, 
and  which,  under  its  own  government,  has  attained  a 
degree  of  prosperity  and  advantages  not  enjoyed  by 
those  of  the  Old  World,  notwithstanding  their  antiquity, 
and  the  slow  progress  of  their  political  systems,  our 
republic  aspires  only  to  the  management  of  its  owti 
affairs,  either  by  itself,  or  through  representatives  in 
whom  it  has  confidence,  in  order  to  develope  the  vast 
resources  of  power  and  wealth  in  its  bosom. 

This  being  therefore  its  dominant,  its  absorbing  idea, 
it  would  have  resisted  the  other  plan  with  all  its  might ; 
and  if  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  change  its  direction 
by  the  employment  of  foreign  bayonets,  it  would  have 
flown  to  arms,  and  war  would  have  burst  forth  through- 
out its  immense  territory,  renewing  even  more  disas- 
trously the  bloody  scenes  of  1820  and  the  succeeding 
years.  From  such  a  state  of  things,  the  Anglo-Ameri- 
can race  would  have  derived  great  advantage  for  the 
progress  of  its  ambitious  schemes,  or  for  forming  a  new 


208  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

republic  from  our  interior  departments,  by  exciting  their 
sympathies  and  gratitude  for  the  services  rendered  them 
in  repelling  a  project  no  less  injurious  to  itself.  This 
tendency,  which  has  been  excited  in  some  departments 
by  disappointment  from  not  obtaining  provincial  liber- 
ties, which  they  desired,  would  have  become  general 
throughout  all ;  and  no  force  would  have  been  able  to 
restrain  them  from  carrying  such  views  into  effect. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  republic  being  composed  for 
the  most  part  of  young  men,  who  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  past,  except  from  the  sinister  accounts  of  their 
fathers,  and  who,  educated  with  republican  ideas,  rely 
with  confidence  on  a  government  eminently  popular,  to 
lead  their  country  to  prosperity  and  greatness — where 
are  the  internal  supports  which  monarchy  presented  as 
the  means  on  which  our  salvation  can  be  founded.? 
That  which  has  disappeared.  Habits  of  passive  obedi- 
ence no  longer  exist ;  and  if  there  remains  a  sentiment 
of  religion,  time  has  undermined  the  political  power  of 
the  directors  of  consciences.  An  influential  aristocracy, 
so  necessary  for  the  permanence  of  monarchies  such  as 
exist  in  old  Europe,  the  only  proper  place  for  institu- 
tions of  that  class,  is  not  to  be  found,  nor  can  it  ever  be 
organized  here.  In  Europe,  the  misery  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  overloaded  population,  which  depends  on 
its  own  labor  to  obtain  what  is  strictly  and  merely  neces- 
sary for  its  subsistence,  in  the  midst  of  an  industry  w^hich 
is  so  severely  tasked,  allows  no  time  to  the  people  to 
think  of  their  political  rights,  nor  means  to  free  them- 
selves from  the  tyranny  of  the  patrician  families,  on 
whom  they  depend,  all  the  landed  property  being  in 
their  hands.  But  no  such  state  of  things  can  be  found 
in  our  republic  ;  in  which  all  is  uncultivated,  virgin,  rich, 
and  fruitful,  offering  to  man,  in  the  utmost  abundance, 


SANTA    ANNA.  209 

and  with  the  greatest  facility,  all  that  he  can  ask  for  his 
labor — all  that  can  lead  to  that  individual  independence 
which  favors  the  development  of  democratic  instincts. 

These  difficulties  being,  therefore,  of  such  a  nature 
tjEiS  to  render  nearly  impossible  the  establishment  of 
monarchy  in  our  country,  attempts  have  been  made,  in 
order  to  overcome  them,  to  throw  the  affairs  of  the 
republic  into  the  greatest  disorder,  preventing  the 
organization  of  its  government  within,  and 'aggravating 
the  most  serious  question  of  our  northern  frontiers  w^ith 
another  nation. 

In  this  manner  the  faction  which  fostered  that  par- 
ricide project,  having  attained  the  first  of  its  ends  by 
many  years  of  artifices  and  manoeuvering,  next  proposed 
to  carry  the  second  into  effect,  by  provoking,  in  a 
manner  almost  direct,  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  aggrandize  itself  by  taking  our  rich  depart- 
ment of  Texas,  and  then  advancing  into  the  very  heart 
of  our  country.  To  involve  our  people  in  the  evils  of 
a  fearful  invasion,  has  been  its  last  resource,  in  order  to 
force  them  to  accept  its  painful  alternative — obliging 
them  either  to  become  the  prey  of  Anglo-American 
ambition,  or  to  fly,  for  the  safety  of  their  national 
existence,  to  monarchical  forms  under  a  European 
prince. 

For  this  object  it  was  that  this  party,  having  the 
control  in  the  chambers  of  1844-'4o,  refused  to  the 
government  of  that  period  the  appropriations  which  it 
asked  for  maintaining  the  integrity  of  the  national 
territory,  already  seriously  jeoparded.  It  did  more : 
it  raised  up  a  revolution,  in  which  the  slender  allow- 
ances made  to  the  government  for  that  object,  on  its 
urgent  demands,  were  unblushingly  declared  to  be  sup- 
pressed ;  and,  on  its  triumph,  it  scattered  the  means 
14 


210  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

collected  for  the  war,  and  hastened  to  recognise  the 
independence  of  Texas.  The  chief  of  this  revolution, 
who  has  always  acted  under  the  influence  of  his  owti 
fatal  inspirations,  then  appeared  again  in  insurrection  at 
San  Luis  Potosi,  with  the  force  destined  for  the  defence 
of  the  frontiers  ;  and  withdra^^dng  that  force  to  the 
capital  of  the  republic,  he  there  usurped  the  supreme 
power,  and  began  to  put  in  operation  his  scheme  of 
European  intervention  in  our  interior  administration, 
whilst  the  hosts  of  the  Anglo-Americans  were  advancing 
to  take  possession,  even  of  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Bravo. 
Having  at  his  disposal  considerable  forces  in  the  adjoin- 
ing departments,  he  allowed  the  enemy  time  to  ad- 
vance, without  resistance,  through  our  territory ;  and 
at  length — most  tardily — he  sent  to  Matamoras  a  small 
body  of  troops,  needy,  and  unprovided  with  anything 
necessary  for  conducting  the  campaign  with  success. 
Who  can  fail  to  see,  in  these  perfidious  manoeuvres, 
the  bastard  design  of  attracting  the  forces  of  the  enemy 
to  our  central  territories,  in  order  there  to  prop^e  to 
us,  in  the  midst  of  the  conflicts  of  war,  as  the  only 
means  of  safety,  the  subjection  of  the  repubhc  to  servi- 
tude, the  ignominy  of  the  country,  the  revival  of  the 
plan  of  Iguala — in  fine,  the  return  to  the  government 
of  the  viceroys. 

With  this  object,  and  for  this  fatal  moment,  which 
every  means  was  employed  to  hasten,  was  a  congress 
assembled,  chosen  for  the  purpose,  composed  only  of 
representatives  of  certain  determined  classes,  not  form- 
ing even  a  sixth  of  our  population,  and  elected  in  a 
manner,  perfidiously  arranged,  to  secure  a  number  of 
voices  sufficient  to  place  the  seal  of  opprobrium  on  the 
nation.  Leaving,  with  scarcely  a  single  representative, 
the  great  majority  of  the  nation,  the  eleven  bishops  of 


SANTA    ANNA.  211 

our  dioceses  were  declared  deputies,  and  our  ecclesiastical 
cabildos  were  authorized  to  elect  nine  others  on  their 
parts,  giving  to  the  bishops  the  faculty  of  appointing 
such  proxies  as  they  might  choose,  to  take  their  places 
in  case  they  should  not  find  it  convenient  to  attend  in 
person.  Does  not  this  prove  abundantly  that  a  decided 
endeavor  was  made  to  supplant  the  will  of  the  nation, 
in  order  to  give  some  species  of  authority  to  this  scheme 
of  European  intervention  in  the  settlement  of  our  internal 
affairs  ? 

The  protestation  of  republican  sentiments  made  by 
General  Paredes,  after  these  irrefragable  proofs  so  fully 
condemning  him,  w^ere  only  new^  acts  of  perfidy,  intended 
to  tranquillize  the  republic,  to  set  its  suspicions  at  rest, 
and  to  arrange  the  occasion  for  carrying  into  effect  his 
base  designs.  He  uttered  these  protestations  in  the  middle 
of  March  last,  when  he  saw  the  public  discontent  mani- 
fest itself  against  his  powers  and  his  plans.  But  w^hat 
followed  ?  Did  he  not  continue  to  protect  the  Tiempo, 
a  newspaper  established  in  the  capital  itself,  for  the  sole 
object  of  rendering  republican  forms  odious,  and  recom- 
mending the  necessity  of  a  monarchy  ;  advancing  every 
argument  which  could  be  supposed  calculated  to  lead 
astray  the  good  sense  of  the  nation  ?  Did  he  convene 
another  popular  congress  ?  Did  he  retract  the  summons 
which  he  had  issued  in  January,  placing  the  fate  of  the 
nation  at  the  mercy  of  the  few  men  who  remain  among 
us  of  the  old  colonial  regime  ?  Everything  continued 
in  the  same  way ;  and,  when  the  press  was  prohibited 
from  discussing  forms  of  government,  it  was  in  order  to 
give  an  amnesty  to  the  writers  in  favour  of  monarchy, 
who  were  then  prosecuted  by  the  judicial  power,  and 
to  encourage  them  to  Continue  their  criminal  publica- 
tions, while  silence  was  imposed  on  the  defenders  of  t  he 


212         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

republican  system.  Meanwhile  he  hastened,  by  ever}* 
means  in  his  power,  the  assemblage  of  the  congress 
destined  to  carry  into  effect  his  monarchical  plan ;  he 
concentrated  his  forces,  in  order  to  suppress  all  move- 
ments on  the  part  of  the  people,  alarmed  by  the  near 
approach  of  such  an  unpropitious  event ;  abandoning 
our  frontiers  to  the  invaders,  or  rather  surrenderino- 
them  to  the  foreign  enemy,  by  the  reverses  which  he 
had  prepared  and  arranged  at  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de 
la  Palma. 

No,  Mexicans!  let  there  be  no  compromise  with 
a  party  whose  conduct  has  been  a  tissue  of  cruel 
treachery  towards  our  country  ;  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  however  flattering  be  its  promises,  and  what- 
soever the  forms  with  which  it  may  in  future  invest 
itself. 

In  the  last  convulsions  of  its  agony,  it  sought  to 
assure  its  safety  by  its  accustomed  manoeuvres.  It  pro- 
claimed principles  which  it  detested.  It  allied  itself 
with  bastard  republicans,  and  exhibited  itself  as  the 
friend  of  liberty,  in  order,  by  that  means,  to  avoid  its 
just  punishment,  to  maintain  itself  in  power,  and  to  con- 
tinue to  undermine  the  edifice  cemented  by  the  illus- 
trious blood  of  the  Hidalgos  and  Morelos. 

The  fraudulent  schemes  of  the  enemies  of  our  coun- 
try being  thus  unfolded,  and  the  true  source  of  its  mis- 
fortunes being  laid  open  to  all,  the  radical  remedy  of 
the  whole  evil  consists  in  putting  an  end  for  ever  to  the 
ruinous  control  of  minorities,  by  calling  on  the  nation 
honestly  to  fix  its  own  destiny,  and  to  secure  its  terri- 
tory, its  honor,  and  its  welfare.  Thus  placed  in  entire 
liberty  to  act,  as  it  should  be,  in  the  midst  of  the  dis- 
cussions carried  on  by  the  press,  in  the  tribune,  and  even 
in  the  streets  and  squares,  it  will  take  into  consideration 


SANTA  ANNA.  213 

.the  evils  which  surround  it,  and  seek  the  means  of  re- 
sisting them  ;  and  satisfied  in  its  desires,  mistress  of  its 
own  fate,  it  wdll  display  the  energy  pecuhar  to  a  free 
people — will  prove  equal  to  the  conflicts  in  which  it  is 
to  be  engaged — and  will  come  out  of  them,  not  only 
honorably,  but  moreover,  entirely  regenerated.  In  this 
way,  the  administration,  established,  resting  on,  and 
springing  from  pubUc  opinion,  may  display  all  its 
organized  forces,  to  maintain  our  territory,  instead  of 
quartering  them  in  the  central  towns,  as  hitherto,  under 
a  government  created  by  seditious  movements,  con- 
stantly at  war  with  the  nation,  and  occupied  solely  in 
endeavoring  to  save  itself,  without  regard  for  our  ex- 
ternal dangers. 

Fellow-countrymen,  never  has  the  situation  of  the 
republic  been  so  difficult  as  at  present.  Its  national 
existence  threatened  on  one  side,  on  the  other  an  attempt 
has  been  to  subject  it  to  the  hardest  of  all  lots,  to  Eu- 
ropean dominion.  Such  is  the  abyss  to  which  we  have 
been  brought  by  the  endeavor  to  govern  our  young 
society  according  to  the  system  adopted  in  the  old. 
TJiis,  the  true  cause  of  the  long  struggle  in  which  we 
have  been  engaged,  which  has  weakened  our  forces,  and 
by  which  the  interests  of  the  majority  have  been  sacri- 
ficed to  the  extravagant  pretensions  of  a  small  minority. 
This  state  of  things  must  be  ended,  in  compliance  with 
the  wishes  of  the  nation ;  and  by  opposing  to  the  former, 
the  union  of  republicans  of  true  faith,  the  concert  of  the 
army  and  the  people.  By  this  union  we  shall  conquer 
the  independence  of  our  country ;  thus  united,  we  shall 
confirm  it  by  establishing  peace  on  the  solid  basis  of 
public  liberty ;  thus  united,  we  shall  preserve  the 
integrity  of  our  immense  territory. 

But  now,  with  regard  to  the  plan  proposed  for  the 


214         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

revolution,  it  is  my  honor  and  my  duty  to  observe, 
that  by  limiting  the  congress  therein  proclaimed  to  the 
organization  of  the  system  of  government,  and  the  de- 
termination of  what  relates  to  the  serious  question  of 
our  northern  frontiers,  the  provisional  government  of 
the  nation  would  find  itself  required,  until  the  system 
has  been  thus  organized,  to  use  its  own  discretion  on  all 
other  points.  This  would  be  investing  the  provisional 
government  with  a  dictatorship,  always  odious,  how- 
ever imperious  might  be  the  circumstances  rendering  it 
necessary.  I  therefore  propose  that  the  said  assembly 
should  come  fully  authorized  to  determine  with  regard 
to  all  branches  of  the  public  administration,  which  may 
be  of  general  interest,  and  within  the  attributes  of  the 
legislative  power ;  the  provisional  executive  of  the 
nation  acting;  with  entire  submission  to  its  determi- 
nations. 

I  consider  it,  moreover,  indispensable  that  a  uniform 
rule  be  established  for  the  regulation  of  the  interior 
affairs  of  the  departments ;  and  that  for  this  purpose 
the  constitution  of  the  year  1824  be  adopted,  until  the 
new  constitutional  code  be  completed.  By  this  means 
w^e  shall  avoid  that  divergency  of  opinions,  at  this 
critical  moment,  when  uniformity  is  so  much  needed  ; 
the  national  will  which  sanctioned  that  code  will  have 
been  consulted,  and  the  executive  of  the  nation  will 
have  a  guide  to  follow,  so  far  as  the  present  eccentric 
position  of  the  republic  will  allow.  I  submit  both 
measures  to  the  will  of  the  departments,  expressed  by 
the  authorities,  who  may  be  established  in  consequence 
of  the  revolution ;  proposing,  moreover,  that  the  pro- 
visional government  of  the  nation  should  adopt  forth- 
with the  second,  as  the  rule  of  its  conduct,  until  it  be 
determined  otherwise  by  the  majority  of  the  depart- 


SANTA   ANNA.  215 

ments,  in  the  form  already  indicated.  The  slave  of 
public  opinion  myself,  I  shall  act  in  accordance  with  it, 
seeking  for  it  henceforth  in  the  manner  in  which  it  may 
be  known  and  expressed,  and  subjecting  myself  after- 
wards entirely  to  the  decisions  of  the  constituent  assem- 
bly, the  organ  of  the  sovereign  will  of  the  nation. 

Mexicans !  There  was  once  a  day,  and  my  heart 
dilates  with  the  remembrance,  when  leading  on  the 
popular  masses,  and  the  army,  to  demand  the  rights  of 
the  nation,  you  saluted  me  with  the  enviable  title  of 
soldier  of  the  people.  Allow  me  again  to  take  it, 
never  more  to  be  given  up  ;  and  to  devote  myself  until 
death,  to  the  defence  of  the  liberty  and  independence  of 
the  republic. 

ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA. 

His  old  position  he  yet  occupies,  in  spite  of  two  sig- 
nal defeats  and  a  tide  of  misfortunes,  which  would 
justify  a  more  volatile  people  than  the  Mexicans,  in  a 
popular  commotion.  Of  all  the  men  in  that  country,  he 
is  best  calculated  to  guide  her  in  such  an  emergency  as 
has  befallen  her,  and  he  is  doubtless  wise  enough  to 
know  that  not  only  the  good  of  the  country,  but  his  own 
selfish  ends,  can  only  be  attained  in  a  season  of  peace. 

The  glance  we  have  thus  given  of  the  public  events 
of  the  life  of  General  Santa  Anna,  is  a  meagre  sketch, 
but  will  suffice  to  show  that  he  has  played  no  incon- 
siderable part  in  the  events  which  have  occurred  in 
Mexico,  all  of  which  will  appear  either  to  have  been 
effected  by  him  or  for  his  benefit.  One  who  occupies 
so  prominent  a  station,  cannot  be  denied  to  be  great, 
though  it  is  by  no  means  a  consequence  that  he  is  good. 
It  is  probable  no  one  living  is  so  unpopular  in  the  United 
States,  in  some  portions  of  which  his  name  is  never 


216  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

mentioned  but  with  execrations.  The  events  of  the  war 
with  Texas,  so  disastrous  to  him,  have  made  him  uni- 
versally known;  and  so  long  as  English  is  written, 
will  the  massacre  of  Colonel  Fanning  be  looked  on  as 
an  atrocity  unparalleled,  and  w'orthy  of  the  severest 
punishment.  We  cannot  but  look  on  his  violations  of 
his  treaty  with  Houston  as  being  a  wailful  disregard  of 
his  word,  but  to  both  the  one  and  the  other  it  may  be 
urged  that  he  followed  the  example  of  those  whom  the 
world  points  to  as  models.  Malta  is  yet  in  the  hands 
of  the  English,  in  spite  of  a  sealed  treaty  which  pro- 
mised its  surrender,  and  often  have  the  rules  of  war  been 
violated  by  the  same  government,  with  regard  to  her 
prisoners.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  hear  what  he  says 
himself  in  relation  to  the  first  of  these  occurrences,  as 
reported  by  an  unquestionable  authority. 

"  As  to  the  affair  at  the  Alamo,  he  said  that  it  was  not 
expected  of  any  commander  to  restrain  his  troops  when 
a  place  w^as  taken  by  storm,  and  still  less  so  when  the 
disproportion  of  the  forces  of  the  besiegers  and  besieged 
was  so  great  as  to  make  a  successful  defence  altogether 
hopeless — that  in  such  a  case  to  protract  the  defence  wais 
a  w^anton  sacrifice  of  the  lives  of  the  assailants,  and 
unjustifiable ;  that  scenes  equally  sanguinary  w^ere  en- 
acted by  the  troops  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  at  the  storming  of  San  Sebastian,  Ciudad 
Rodrigo,  and  Badajos.  The  Texans  who  defended  the 
Alamo  did  not  exceed  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  w'ith- 
out  artillery,  against  between  four  and  five  thousand 
Mexicans,  with  artillery.  He  added  that  he  had  seven 
different  times  summoned  them  to  surrender,  and  offered 
them  quarter,  which  he  would  have  taken  the  risk  and 
responsibility  of  granting,  but  that  they  refused  to  ac- 
cept it,  and  fought  to  the  last  and  died  gloriously." 


SANTA    ANNA.  217 

His  justification  of  the  shooting  of  Tanning's  men, 
has  been  given  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  work. 

In  a  career  of  thirty  years,  but  three  events  have 
occurred  to  cast  on  Santa  Anna  the  stains  of  cruelty ; 
and  when  we  remember  the  sanguinary  school  in  which 
he  grew  up,  we  have  more  reason  to  wonder  at  his 
moderation  than  his  excesses.  Far  hence  be  any  design 
to  palUate  his  faults,  which  are  dark  enough  to  need  no 
fancy  touches  and  misrepresentations  to  give  them  the- 
atrical effect  to  suit  those  who  most  prefer  to  sup  on 
horrors. 

Santa  Anna  has  amassed  a  vast  fortune ;  it  does  not, 
however,  follow  that  this  has  been  by  means  of  pecula- 
tion, for  his  father  was  an  officer  of  rank,  and  he  has 
twice  married  women  of  estate.  The  first  Senora  Santa 
Anna  has  been  represented  by  all  as  kind  and  gentle, 
ever  exerting  her  influence  for  good,  and  deservedly 
popular.  Much  of  the  consideration  and  kindness  ex- 
tended to  the  Santa  Fe  prisoners  was  to  be  attributed  to 
her,  and  more  than  one  of  them  have  remembered  her. 
She  was  the  mother  of  a  daughter  of  whom  the  journals 
of  Mexico  have  recently  made  no  little  mention.  The 
present  Senora  he  married  soon  after  the  death  of  the 
former,  which  took  place  in  1843.  The  second  one  is 
said  to  be  attached  to  him,  has  shared  his  exile,  and 
submitted  to  much  privation  with  him. 

Such  is  Santa  Anna,  whether  good  or  bad,  what  his 
country  has  made  him.  A  chapter  of  his  history  is  yet 
to  be  written  which  w^ill  perhaps  display  him  in  yet 
more  brilliant  colors :  or,  it  may  be,  record  another  re- 
verse from  which  he  will  be  unable  to  recover  himself. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

VALENTINO  GOMEZ  FARIAS  AND  ANASTASIO 
BUSTAMENTE. 

Farias  an  opponent  of  Iturbide  —  Elected  vice-president — 
Attempts  to  obtain  liberal  institutions — Congress  suspends  its 
sessions — Farias  banished — Returns  to  Mexico — Pronounces 
against  Bustamente's  government — His  attempt  defeated — 
Early  life  of  Bustamente  —  Election  to  the  presidency — 
Banished — Returns  to  Mexico — His  second  election  to  the 
presidency — Resigns. 

Valentino  Gomez  Farias  is  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent men  in  Mexico,  and  has  always  been  found  in  the 
same  phase  of  the  political  world,  a  partisan  of  radical 
reform.  His  name  has  appeared  in  the  records  of  every 
event  since  the  revolution,  having  been  a  diputado  to 
the  first  congresses ;  always  the  defender  of  popular 
liberties,  he  opposed  Iturbide  when  the  latter  made  him- 
self a  monarch,  although  one  of  his  partisans  at  the 
commencement  of  his  career ;  supported  both  Pedraza 
and  Victoria,  and  has  always  been  willing  to  stand  by 
any  one  who  would  take  a  step  towards  the  advance- 
ment of  popular  liberty. 

He  first  appears  in  a  prominent  position  when,  at  the 
expiration  of  Pedraza's  presidency,  Santa  Anna  w^as 
chosen  to  succeed  him  with  Farias  as  his  vice-president. 
The  state  of  affairs  in  Mexico  at  this  period  was  most 
peculiar.  Santa  Anna  was  the  constitutional  president, 
and  sought  to  destroy  the  instrument  under  which  he 
held  office  so  as  to  extend  his  authority,  while  Gomez 
Farias,  a  liberal,  or  "  exaltado,*'  was  anxious  to  increase 
the  privileges  of  the  people,  and  assimilate  the  govern- 
ment to  that  of  the  United  States  his  great  object  of  ad- 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  219 

miration.  In  the  congress  of  1833  and  1834,  there  was 
a  strong  majority  in  favor  of  the  vice-president,  and 
decrees  were  passed  or  proposed  destroying  much  of  the 
incubus  of  oppression,  by  which  the  church,  heterodox 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Catholic  w^orld,  as  it  was  repugnant 
to  the  principles  of  a  free  people,  would  have  been 
removed.  Santa  Anna  long  protested  against  these 
innovations,  and  at  length  began  to  hint  that  he  would 
employ  force  to  counteract  the  views  of  the  reformers. 
This  was  a  hazardous  scheme,  the  chances  of  which, 
however,  he  had  well  calculated ;  and  by  one  of  those 
manoeuvres  which  he  so  well  understood,  he  began  to 
concentrate  his  forces  around  the  capital.  He  proceeded 
so  far  as  to  post  a  guard  at  the  door  of  the  senate 
chamber,  and  gave  to  the  officer  in  command.  Captain 
Cortez,  orders  to  exclude  all  but  the  senators  known  to 
be  his  friends.  At  this  outrage,  Cortez,  who  had  been 
educated  in  the  United  States,  represented,  in  a  con- 
versation not  long  afterwards,  that  though  he  obeyed 
his  general,  he  felt  as  if  he  were  guilty  of  matricide, 
knowing  that  he  destroyed  the  liberties  of  his  country. 
The  consequence  was,  that  the  congress  immediately 
declared  the  freedom  of  its  discussions  invaded,  and  on 
the  14th  of  May,  1834,  suspended  its  sessions.  This  is 
the  last  thing  a  deliberative  body  should  do.  It  should 
remember  it  has  no  dignity  separate  from  that  of  its  con- 
stituents ;  that  it  is  its  duty  to  do  all  things,  to  suffer  all 
things,  rather  than  degrade  the  character  of  the  nation. 
A  senate  should  never  fly  from  a  foreign  enemy ;  and  it 
may  be  with  some  propriety  maintained,  that  it  should 
sit,  like  the  old  Romans,  calmly  in  the  capitol  till  Gauls 
plucked  at  the  beards  of  the  senators. 

The  senate  of  Mexico,  however,  was  not  Roman.     It 
was  not  even  supported  by  the  prejudices  of  the  people. 


220  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

It  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Spanish  race,  on  both 
continents,  to  love  titles.  The  old  Castilian,  like  the 
soldier  in  Kotzebue's  "Pizarro,"  proof  to  bribes,  can  be 
won  by  an  appeal  to  kindness  and  vanity.  The  race  is 
everywhere  fond  of  titles,  and  consequently  jealous  of 
those  who  possess  higher  distinction  than  themselves. 
Mier  y  Teran,  when  he  dispersed  the  congress  of  Chil- 
panzingo,  said  "  that  instead  of  attending  to  the  interests 
of  the  people,  its  members  were  occupied  in  taking  care 
of  themselves,  and  calling  each  other  excellentisimos,^^ 
and  this  account  seems  to  exhibit  all  the  characteristics 
of  the  legislative  assemblies  of  the  country,  before  or 
since.  The  consequence  of  such  a  state  of  affairs  could 
not  but  be  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  people,  the  exis- 
tence of  which  Santa  Anna  took  advantage  of.  Imme- 
diately on  the  suspension  of  its  sessions  by  the  congress, 
Santa  Anna  appealed  to  the  people  by  a  proclamation,  in 
which  he  set  forth  his  views  in  relation  to  the  preservation 
of  religion,  order,  and  law,  all  of  which,  he  said,  were 
threatened  by  the  vice-president,  Farias,  and  his  tjTan- 
nical  majority  in  the  legislature.  How  potent  this  ad- 
dress was,  will  be  understood  by  a  reference  to  a  subse- 
quent chapter,  in  which  is  exhibited  a  statement  of  the 
condition  of  the  church.  The  minds  of  the  people  hav- 
ing been  prepared  by  this  address,  a  pronunciamento  was 
effected  on  the  25th  of  May,  at  Cuernavaca,  a  town  of 
the  department  of  Mexico,  about  thirty  miles  from  the 
capital.  The  plan  proposed  on  this  occasion  was 
strange :  it  put  a  negative  on  all  prospect  of  improve- 
ment from  the  extension  of  religious  liberty,  by  a  pro- 
vision that  all  laws  affecting  church  propert}'  should  be 
repealed  ;  it  destroyed  liberty  of  political  opinion,  by  an 
enactment  that  all  the  partisans  of  the  federal  system 
should  be  banished,  that  the  actual  congress  had  ceased 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  221 

to  exist,  and  that  another  should  be  convened,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  were  to  possess  full  powers  to  re-organize 
the  government.  This  plan  was  almost  universally  ad- 
hered to,  and  the  session  of  congress  finally  ceased. 
The  new  congress  met  on  the  1st  of  January,  1835,  as 
has  previously  been  described,  and  the  first  act  was  to 
declare  the  vice-president,  Farias,  disfranchised,  and  he 
was  accordingly  compelled  to  retire  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  resided  as  lately  as  1838.  It  then  proceeded 
to  a  series  of  discussions,  relative  to  the  form  of  govern- 
ment, &c.,  the  result  of  which  was  a  declaration  that 
congress  might  make  any  alterations  it  pleased  in  the 
organic  form  of  the  government,  so  that  a  republican 
constitution  existed,  and  the  Catholic  religion  was  not 
interfered  with. 

During  the  presidency  of  Bustamente,  who  seems  far 
purer  and  less  vindictive  than  any  other  of  the  public  men 
of  Mexico,  the  prohibition  under  which  Gomez  Farias 
lay  was  removed,  and  he  returned  to  Mexico.  Busta- 
mente, it  will  be  recollected,  had  been  a  friend  of  Farias, 
or,  at  least,  at  one  period  of  his  life,  had  professed  as 
devoted  an  attachment  to  the  old  federal  system ;  but 
during  the  absence  of  Santa  Anna  on  his  expedition 
against  Texas,  he  had  become  chief  magistrate  under  the 
constitution  which  declared  the  Mexican  republic  one 
and  indivisible,  and  procured  the  exile  of  the  subject  of 
this  notice.  All  accounts  represent  Farias  as  a  pure  and 
disinterested  patriot,  as  one  who,  had  he  lived  in  the 
United  States,  would  have  acted  with  Jefferson  and  the 
other  defenders  of  the  greatest  liberty  against  all  and  any 
usurpations.  Bustamente,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  man 
of  peace,  a  pupil  of  that  school  which  believes  whatever 
is  safest  is  best,  and  which  would  inculcate  the  maxim 
that  all  things  are  better  than  a  violation  of  public  peace. 


222  MEXICO    A^D    HER   MILITARY    CHIEtTAINS. 

Madame  Calderon,  in  her  entertaining  book,  represents 
him  as  boldly  avowing  these  opinions,  admirable,  per- 
haps, for  a  private  citizen,  but  altogether  unworthy  of 
the  chief  of  a  nation.  The  minister,  however,  often 
finds  it  convenient  to  renounce  the  opinions  he  had  pro- 
fessed when  seeking  power,  and  Bustamente,  under  the 
old  and  the  new  constitution,  were  different  beings. 
The  sanction  of  an  oath,  also,  gave  him  an  excuse  for 
acting  as  he  did. 

No  sooner  had  Farias  landed  in  Mexico,  which  he 
did  in  the  latter  part  of  1839,  the  date  it  is  almost  im- 
possible now  to  ascertain,  than  he  set  to  work  to  ar- 
ranoje  his  plans,  and  in  General  Urrea,  already  some- 
w4iat  known  from  his  participation  in  the  campaign  of 
Texas,  he  found  a  hand  ready  to  execute  what  his  head 
would  suggest.  This  pronunciamento  was  made  on  the 
loth  of  July,  1840.  At  the  head  of  two  regiments,  one 
that  del  Comercio,  the  commandant  of  which  was  the 
celebrated  Count  Cortina,  now"  distinguished  as  being 
not  only  one  of  the  wealthiest,  but  most  erudite  men  in 
Mexico,  but  who  appears  to  have  sustained  Bustamente 
in  this  movement,  they  rushed  to  the  palace  del  Gobierno, 
and  imprisoned  the  president.  The  whole  circumstances 
are,  however,  best  explained  by  the  govenmient  bulletin, 
an  extract  from  which  follows : 

"Yesterday,  at  midnight,  Urrea,  with  a  handfiil  of 
troops  belonging  to  the  garrison  and  its  neighborhood, 
took  possession  of  the  National  Palace,  surprising  the 
guard,  and  committing  the  incivility  of  imprisoning  his 
excellency  the  president,  Don  Anastasio  Bustamente, 
the  commander-in-chief,  the  Mayor  de  la  Plaza,  and 
other  chiefs.  Don  Gabriel  Valencia,  chief  of  the  plana 
mayor  (the  staff).  General  Don  Antonio  Mozo,  and  the 
minister  of  war,  Don  Juan  Nepomuceno  Almonte,  re- 


FARIAS   AND   BUSTAMENTE.  223 

united  in  the  citadel,  prepared  to  attack  the  pronunciados, 
who,  arming  the  lowest  populace,  took  possession  of  the 
towers  of  the  cathedral,  and  of  some  of  the  highest  edi- 
fices in  the  centre  of  the  city.  Although  summoned  to 
surrender,  at  two  in  the  afternoon  firing  began,  and  con- 
tinued till  midnight,  recommencing  at  five  in  the  mor- 
ning, and  only  ceasing  at  intervals.  The  colonel  of  the 
sixth  regiment,  together  with  a  considerable  part  of  his 
corps,  who  were  in  the  barracks  of  the  palace,  escaped 
and  joined  the  government  troops,  who  have  taken  the 
greatest  part  of  the  positions  near  the  square  and  the 
palace.  His  excellency  the  president,  with  a  part  of 
the  troops  which  had  pronounced  in  the  palace,  made 
his  escape  on  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth,  putting  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  troops  who  have  remained  faithful 
to  their  colors,  and  at  night  published  the  following  pro- 
clamation : 

^i  The  President  of  the  Republic  to  tJie  Mexican  JVafion. 

<<  Fellow-Citizens:  The  seduction  which  has  spread 
over  a  very  small  part  of  the  people  and  garrison  of  this 
capital ;  the  forgetfulness  of  honor  and  duty,  have  caused 
the  defection  of  a  few  soldiers,  whose  misconduct  up  to 
this  hour  has  been  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  valiant 
behavior  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  chiefs,  officers,  and 
soldiers,  who  have  intrepidly  followed  the  example  of 
the  valiant  general- in- chief  of  the  plana  mayor  of  the 
army.  The  government  was  not  ignorant  of  the  machi- 
nations that  w^e  carrying  on;  tlieir  authors  were  well 
Jcnown  to  it,  and  it  foresaw  that  the  gentleness  and  clem- 
ency which  it  had  hitherto  employed  in  order  to  disarm 
them,  would  be  corresponded  to  with  ingratitude. 

"  This  line  of  policy  has  caused  the  nation  to  remain 


224         MEXICO   AND   HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

headless  (acefala)  for  some  hours,  and  public  tranquillity 
to  be  disturbed;  but  my  liberty  being  restored,  the 
dissidents,  convinced  of  the  evils  which  have  been  and 
may  be  caused  by  these  tumults,  depend  upon  a  recon- 
ciliation for  their  security.  The  government  will  remem- 
ber that  they  are  misled  men,  belonging  to  the  great 
Mexican  family,  but  not  for  this  will  it  forget  how  much 
they  have  forfeited  their  rights  to  respect ;  nor  what  is 
due  to  the  great  bulk  of  the  nation.  Public  tranquillity 
w^ill  be  restored  in  a  few^  hours ;  the  laws  will  imme- 
diately recover  their  energy,  and  the  government  will 
see  them  obeyed. 

^^ANASTASIO  BUST.'VIVIENTE. 
<' Mexico,  July  16th,  1840." 

Previous  to  this  the  president  had  escaped.  One  pro- 
clamation in  Mexico  always  produces  another,  and  Fa- 
rias, who  had  been  proclaimed  president  by  his  party, 
issued  the  following  reply : 

"  Fellow-Citizens :  We  present  to  the  civilized  world 
two  facts,  which,  w^hile  they  will  cover  with  eternal 
glory  the  federal  army  and  the  heroic  inhabitants  of 
this  capital,  will  hand  down  wdth  execration  and  in- 
famy, to  all  future  generations,  the  name  of  General 
Bustamente  ;  this  man  without  faith,  breaking  his 
solemnly  pledged  w^ord,  after  being  put  at  liberty  by  an 
excess  of  generosity  ;  for  having  promised  to  take 
immediate  steps  to  bring  about  a  negotiation  of  peace, 
upon  the  honorable  basis  which  was  proposed  to  him, 
he  is  now  converted  into  the  chief  of  an  army,  the 
enemy  of  the  federalists ;  and  has  beheld,  with  a  serene 
countenance,  this  beautiful  capital  destroyed,  a  multi- 
tude of  families  drowned  in  tears,  and  the  death  of 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  225 

many  citizens ;  not  only  of  the  combatants,  but  of  those 
who  have  taken  no  part  in  the  struggle.  Amongst 
these  must  be  counted  an  unfortunate  woman  enceinte, 
who  was  killed  as  she  was  passing  the  palace  gates, 
under  the  behef  that  a  parley  having  come  from  his 
camp,  the  firing  would  be  suspended,  as  in  fact  it  was 
on  our  side.  This  government,  informed  of  the  mis- 
fortune, sent  for  the  husband  of  the  deceased,  and 
ordered  twenty-five  dollars  to  be  given  him ;  but  the 
unfortunate  man,  though  plunged  in  grief,  declared  that 
twelve  were  sufficient  to  supply  his  wants.  Such  was 
the  horror  inspired  by  the  atrocious  conduct  of  the  ex- 
government  of  Bustamente,  that  this  sentiment  covered 
up  and  suffocated  all  the  others. 

"  Another  fact,  of  which  we  shall  with  difficulty  find 
an  example  in  history,  is  the  following.  The  day  that 
the  firing  began,  being  in  want  of  some  implements  of 
war,  it  was  necessary  to  cause  an  iron  case  to  be  opened, 
belonging  to  Don  Stanislaus  Flores,  in  which  he  had  a 
considerable  sum  of  money  in  different  coin,  besides  his 
most  valuable  effects.  Thus,  all  that  the  government 
could  do,  was  to  make  this  known  to  the  owner,  Senor 
Flores,  in  order  that  he  might  send  a  person  of  confi- 
dence to  take  charge  of  his  interests,  making  known 
what  was  wanting,  that  he  might  be  immediately  paid. 
The  pertinacity  of  the  firing  prevented  Senor  Flores 
from  naming  a  commissioner  for  four  days,  and  then, 
although  the  case  has  been  open,  and  no  one  has  taken 
charge  of  it,  the  commissioner  has  made  known  officially 
that  nothing  is  taken  from  it  but  the  implements  of  war 
w^hich  were  sent  for.  Glory  in  yourselves,  Mexicans  ! 
The  most  polished  nation  of  the  earth,  illustrious  France, 
has  not  presented  a  similar  fact.  The  Mexicans  possess 
heroic  virtues,  which  will  raise  them  above  all  the 
15 


22(5  MFA'ICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

nations  in  the  world.    This  is  the  only  ambition  of  your 
fellow-citizen, 

"VALENTIN  GOMEZ  FARIAS. 

God,  Liberty,  and  Federalism. 


a 


'•Mexico,  July  17th,  1840." 


Besides  this,  a  circular  was  sent  to  all  the  governors 
and  commandants  of  the  different  departments,  from  the 
"  Palace  of  the  Federal  Provisional  Government,"  to  this 
effect : 

''The  citizen  Jose  Urrea,  with  the  greater  part  of 
the  garrison  of  the  capital,  and  the  whole  population, 
pronounced  early  on  the  morning  of  this  day,  for  the 
re-establishment  of  the  federal  system,  adopting  in  the 
interim  the  constitution  of  1824,  whilst  it  is  reformed 
by  a  congress  which  they  are  about  to  convoke  to  that 
effect ;  and  I,  having  been  called,  in  order  that  at  this 
juncture,  I  should  put  myself  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment, communicate  it  to  your  excellency,  informing  you 
at  the  same  time,  that  the  object  of  the  citizen  Urrea, 
instead  of  re-establishing  the  federal  system,  has  been  to 
reunite  all  the  Mexicans,  by  proclaiming  toleration  of  all 
opinions,  and  respect  for  the  lives,  properties,  and  in- 
terests of  all. 

"  God,  Liberty,  and  Federalism. 

<^  VALENTIN  GOMEZ  FARIAS. 
"National  Palace  of  Mexico,  15th  July,  1840." 

Thus  the  ball  opened,  and  as  proclamations  are  value- 
less everywhere  without  force,  and  especially  so  in 
Mexico,  the  several  documents  were  sustained  by  arms. 
Gomez  Farias,  though  no  military  man,  exhibited  him- 
self every  where,  and  it  was  clearly  enough  shown  that 
his  cause  was  popular  with  the  people  and  almost  with 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  227 

the  military,  by  the  impunity  with  which  he  rode  through 
the  city.  Mexico  was,  however,  devastated  ;  there  was 
almost  a  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life  in  the  capital, 
and  the  lives  of  inoffensive  citizens  were  lost  in  the 
public  squares  and  private  dwellings  of  the  national 
capital. 

On  the  19th,  the  following  proclamation  was  issued : 

<«  Address  of  His  Excellency,  Senor  Don  Valentin  Gomez 
Farias,  charged  provisionally  with  the  government  of 
Mexico,  and  of  the  Getieral-in- Chief  of  the  Federal 
army  to  the  troops  under  his  command, 

"  Companions  in  arms :  No  one  has  ever  resisted  a 
people  who  fight  for  their  liberty  and  who  defend  their 
sacred  rights.  Your  heroic  endeavors  have  already  re- 
duced our  unjust  aggressors  almost  to  complete  nullity. 
Without  infantry  to  cover  their  parapets,  without  artil- 
lery to  fire  their  pieces,  without  money,  without  credit, 
and  without  support,  they  already  make  their  last  useless 
efforts.  On  our  side,  on  the  contrary,  all  is  in  abundance, 
(sohra)  men,  arms,  ammunition,  and  money,  and  above 
all,  the  invincible  support  of  opinion  ; — while  the  parties 
which  adhere  to  our  pronunciamento  in  all  the  cities  out 
of  the  capital,  and  the  assistance  which  within  this  very 
city  is  given  by  every  class  of  society  to  those  who  are 
fighting  for  the  rights  of  the  people,  offer  guarantees 
which  they  will  strictly  fulfil  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country,  natives  as  well  as  foreigners.  Our  enemies,  in 
the  delirium  of  their  impotence,  have  had  recourse  to 
their  favorite  weapon,  calumny.  In  a  communication 
directed  to  us,  they  have  had  the  audacity  to  accuse  you 
of  having  attacked  some  property.  Miserable  wretches ! 
No — the  soldiers  of  the  people  are  not  robbers ;  the 


228  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

cause  of  liberty  is  very  noble,  and  its  defence  will  not 
be  stained  by  a  degrading  action.  This  is  the  answer 
given  to  your  calumniators  by  your  chiefs,  who  are  as 
much  interested  in  your  reputation  as  in  their  own. 
Soldiers  of  the  people !  let  valor,  as  well  as  all  other 
civic  virtues,  shine  in  your  conduct,  that  you  may  never 
dim  the  renown  of  valiant  soldiers  and  of  good  citizens. 

"VALENTIN  GOMEZ  FARIAS. 

"JOSE  URREA." 

Thus  stood  affairs  for  several  days ;  and  Mexico  la 
hermosa  was  becoming  a  ruin.  The  palace  of  the  arch- 
bishop was  made  a  fortress  by  the  party  of  Farias,  a 
circumstance  which,  added  to  the  fact  that  he  had  re- 
quired, as  one  of  the  bases  of  any  new  organization  of 
government,  that  the  lands  in  possession  of  ecclesiastical 
bodies  should  be  liable  to  alienation,  and  should  pay 
taxes,  as  did  the  property  of  individuals,  enabled  the 
government  to  make  representations  that  he  had  re- 
quired the  confiscation  of  the  holy  vessels  of  the  cathe- 
drals, and  other  churches,  and  thereby  to  alienate  from 
him  the  people,  whose  superstition  was  more  powerful 
than  their  patriotism. 

At  this  juncture,  came  a  letter  from  Santa  Anna, 
dated  Mango  de  Clavo,  July  19,  in  which  he  professed 
his  willingness  to  assist  the  president  in  allaying  this* 
commotion.  This  letter  is  remarkable ;  as  Farias  and 
Urrea,  the  latter  of  w^hom  was  never  known  to  act  but 
as  the  lieutenant  of  Santa  Anna,  had  everywhere  repre- 
sented the  last  as  their  friend:  and  Bustamente  at 
once  took  advantage  of  the  circumstance,  by  publishing 
this  adhesion,  and  others  received  from  Valencia,  Ga- 
lendo,  &c.,  in  a  bulletin,  which,  moreover,  stated  that 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  229 

it  would  be  seen,  in  spite  of  all  misrepresentations,  how 
devoted  Santa  Anna  was  to  the  national  cause. 

The  people  of  Mexico  were  not  deceived.  They  saw 
in  this  Janus-faced  policy,  that  Santa  Anna,  whatever 
might  have  been  his  professions,  now  made  a  catspaw 
of  the  pure  Farias,  and  was  seeking  to  grasp  the  fruits 
of  a  contest  his  high-minded  contemporary  had  entered 
into  for  the  good  of  his  country. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  it  is  well  enough  here  to  state, 
the  following  proclamation  was  made : — 

"Ministers:  I  protest  that  I  find  myself  without 
liberty  and  without  defence,  the  guards  of  the  palace 
having  abandoned  me.  Under  these  circumstances,  let 
no  order  of  mine,  which  is  contrary  to  the  duties  of  the 
post  that  I  occupy,  be  obeyed ;  since,  although  I  am 
resolved  to  die  before  failing  in  my  obligations,  it  will 
not  be  difficult  to  falsify  my  signature.  Let  this  be 
made  known  by  you  to  the  congress,  and  to  those  gene- 
rals and  chiefs  who  preserve  sentiments  of  honor  and 
fidelity. 

"ANASTASIO  BUSTAMENTE. 

"National  Palace,  July  15th,  1840." 

The  object  of  this  was,  that  as  Farias  and  his  friends 
stated  that  Bustamente  had  been  released,  on  condition 
that  he  would  restore  federalism,  the  public  might  be 
aware,  either  that  such  a  promise  had  been  extorted,  or 
even  if  made  in  good  faith,  would  be  disregarded.  On 
the  same  day,  Urrea,  who  had  command  of  the  troops 
of  the  federalists,  proposed  the  following  terms  for  a 
cessation  of  arms : — 

"  Article  1st.  It  not  having  been  the  intention  of  the 
citizen,  Jose  Urrea,  and  of  the  troops  under  his  com- 


230  MEXICO    AND    HtR    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

mand,  to  attack  in  any  way  the  person  of  the  president 
of  the  republic,  General  Anastasio  Bustamente,  he  is 
replaced  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions. 

2d.  Using  his  faculties  as  president  of  the  republic, 
he  will  cause  the  firing  to  cease  on  the  part  of  the  troops 
opposed  to  the  citizen  Urrea ;  who  on  his  side  will  do 
the  same. 

3d.  The  president  shall  organize  a  ministry  de- 
serving of  public  confidence,  and  shall  promise  to  re- 
establish the  observance  of  the  constitution  of  1824, 
convoking  a  congress  immediately,  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  reform. 

4th.  Upon  these  foundations,  peace  and  order  shall 
be  re-established,  and  no  one  shall  be  molested  for  the 
opinions  which  he  has  manifested,  or  for  the  principles 
he  may  have  supported,  all  who  are  in  prison  for  politi- 
cal opinions  being  set  at  liberty." 

All  of  which  were  rejected  by  the  party  of  Busta- 
mente. 

On  the  23d,  the  archbishop,  acting  in  the  capacity  of 
mediator,  w^hich  his  social  rank  and  functions  entitled 
him  to  do,  invited  all  parties  to  a  conference  in  his  pa- 
lace, a  proposition  imanimously  acceded  to  ;  but  unfor- 
tunately, the  truce  was  broken,  and  a  bloody  contest 
ensued ;  during  the  course  of  which,  the  calle  de  Monte- 
rillo,  in  which  were  the  head-quarters  of  Bustamente, 
since  he  had  left  the  palace  del  gohierno,  ran  with 
blood. 

In  spite  of  the  rejection  of  the  terms  proposed  by 
Urrea,  Gomez  Farias,  on  the  same  day,  offered  the 
following : — 

"  1st.  The  forces  of  both  armies  shall  retire  to  occu- 
py places  out  of  the  capital. 

2d.  Both  the  belligerent   parties  shall  agree  that 


FAKIAS    AND    BUSTAMEKTE.  231 

the  constitutional  laws  of  1836  shall  remain  without 
force. 

3d.  A  convention  shall  be  convoked,  establishing 
the  new  constitution,  upon  the  basis  fixed  in  the  consti- 
tutive act,  which  will  begin  to  be  in  force  directly. 

4th.  The  elections  of  the  members  of  the  con- 
vention will  be  verified  according  to  the  laws  by 
which  the  deputies  of  the  constituent  congress  were 
directed. 

5th.  His  actual  excellency,  the  president,  will  form 
a  provisional  government,  he  being  the  chief,  until  the 
foregoing  articles  begin  to  take  effect. 

6th.  No  one  shall  be  molested  for  political  opinions 
manifested  since  the  year  1821  until  now  :  consequently, 
the  persons,  employments,  and  properties  of  all  who 
have  taken  part  in  this  or  in  the  past  revolutions,  shall 
be  respected. 

7th.  That  the  first  article  may  take  effect,  the  go- 
vernment will  facilitate  all  that  is  necessary  to  both 
parties." 

These  propositions  were  refused,  and  every  means 
was  used  to  prejudice  the  people  against  those  w^ho 
would  have  saved  them ;  at  the  same  time  it  was  stated 
that  Santa  Anna  was  approaching  the  capital. 

The  more  the  revolution  progressed,  the  more  dis- 
gusting it  became :  evidently  aware  they  were  acting 
falsely  to  the  interests  of  Mexico,  every  opportunity 
was  taken  to  misrepresent  the  leaders  of  the  revolt  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people.  A  yet  more  unworthy  system  was 
pursued ;  the  taxes  were  lowered  to  gain  the  support  of 
the  leper  OS,  who  thronged  the  capital.  The  conse- 
quence of  this  was,  that  on  the  27th  the  president  was 
enabled  to  say : 

"  We  have  the  grateful  satisfaction  of  announcing, 


232         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

that   the   revolution   of   this    capital    has    teriniiiated 

happily.  The  rebellious  troops  having  offered,  in  the 
night,  to  lay  down  arms  upon  certain  conditions,  his 
excellency,  the  commander-in-chief,  has  accepted  their 
proposals  with  convenient  modifications,  which  will  be 
verified  to-day  ;  the  empire  of  laws,  order,  tran- 
quillity, and  all  other  social  guarantees  being  thus  re- 
established." 

Similar  documents  were  sent  to  all  the  departments 
of  the  republic,  and  thus  terminated  the  abortive  but 
honest  attempt  of  Farias  to  reform  the  government  of 
his  country. 

The  following  letter  of  Santa  Anna  may  be  con- 
sidered its  finale : 

"  The  triumph  which  the  national  arms  have  just 
obtained  over  the  horrible  attempts  of  anarchy,  com- 
municated to  me  by  your  excellency,  in  your  note  of 
the  27th,  is  very  worthy  of  being  celebrated  by  every 
citizen  who  desires  the  welfare  of  his  country,  always 
supposing  that  public  vengeance  (la  vindicta  publico) 
has  been  satisfied ;  and  in  this  case,  I  offer  you  a  thou- 
sand congratulations.  This  division,  although  filled 
with  regret  at  not  having  participated  on  this  occasion 
in  the  risks  of  our  companions  in  arms,  are  rejoiced  at 
so  fortunate  an  event,  and  hope  that  energy  and  a 
w^holesome  severity  will  now  strengthen  order  for  ever, 
and  will  begin  an  era  of  felicity  for  the  country.  The 
happy  event  has  been  celebrated  here,  in  the  fortress, 
and  in  Tepeyahualco,  where  the  first  brigade  had  already 
arrived  (and  whom  I  have  ordered  to  countermarch), 
with  every  demonstration  of  joy.  I  anxiously  desire  to 
receive  the  details  which  your  excellency  offers  to  com- 
municate to  me,  so  that  if  the  danger  has  entirely 
ceased,  I  may  return  to  to  my  hacienda^  and  may  lay 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  233 

down  the  command  of  those  troops  which  your  excel- 
lency orders  me  to  preserve  here. 

"  With  sentiments  of  the  most  lively  joy  for  the  ces- 
sation of  the  misfortunes  of  the  capital,  I  reiterate  to 
your  excellency  those  of  my  particular  esteem. 

"  God  and  Liberty. 
"ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA. 

"Perote,  July  29,  1840."' 

This  plan  had  for  its  object  the  political  regeneration 
of  the  republic,  and  stated  that  six  years  previously  a 
constitution  had  been  adopted  arbitrarily,  which  de- 
stroyed the  lawful  government  of  1824,  and  w^hicli 
appropriated  to  a  very  few  all  the  advantages  of  the 
social  compact.  The  time,  it  stated,  had  come,  when 
nothing  but  the  exertions  of  the  whole  nation  would 
win  its  ultimate  salvation,  and  place  Mexico  in  the 
position  she  should  occupy  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  The  first  and  fundamental  article  restored  the 
constitution  of  1824,  and  called  for  a  congress  to  be 
composed  of  four  deputies  from  each  state.  The  con- 
stitution, after  a  scrutiny  by  this  body,  was  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  people  of  each  state  for  approval.  The 
third  promises  that  the  Catholic  church  shall  be  re- 
spected (respedada) ;  the  form  of  government  was 
guarantied  to  be  popular,  representative,  and  liberal, 
and  absolute  equality  was  insured.  The  fourth  pro- 
vided for  a  temporary  government  in  the  capital,  whose 
functions  were  to  be  limited  exclusively  to  foreign 
affairs.  Other  clauses  provided  for 'the  refunding  of 
taxes  illegally  levied,  the  closing  of  all  internal  custom 
houses,  and  the  prohibition  for  ever  of  all  taxes  having 
such  an  object  as  the  odious  Alcahala  of  the  Spanish 
rule.     All  political  offences  since  the  revolution  w^ere 


234  MEXICO    A^D    HLR    MILITARY    CHlLtTAINS. 

absolutely  pardoned.  Where  is  the  fault  of  this  plan  ? 
It  has  not  even  one  selfish  clause ;  yet  it  did  not  suc- 
ceed. Farias  also  pubhshed  a  letter  denying  any 
design  to  touch  the  cathedral  plate,  and  appended  to 
this  was  a  letter  from  the  archbishop,  stating  explicitly 
that  there  had  been  no  outrages  committed  in  any  of 
the  ecclesiastical  buildings  occupied  by  his  followers. 

On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  August,  articles  of  capi- 
tulation were  signed  on  both  sides ;  and  Gen.  Andrade, 
in  the  absence  of  Urrea,  led  the  pronundados  from  the 
city  to  Tlanapantla,  whence  they  dispersed.  When  all 
was  evidently  lost,  Gomez  Farias  disappeared ;  and 
Madame  Calderon  says,  he  was  supposed  to  be  con- 
cealed in  the  city. 

His  party  did  not,  however,  lay  down  their  arms  but 
on  the  following  terms  : — 

"  1st.  Their  lives,  persons,  employments,  and  proper- 
ties are  to  be  inviolably  preserved. 

2d.  General  Valencia  engages  to  interpose  his  influ- 
ence \yiih  the  government,  by  all  legal  means,  that  they 
may  request  the  chambers  to  proceed  to  reform  the  con- 
stitution. 

3d.  All  political  events  which  have  occurred,  since 
the  fifteenth  up  to  this  date,  are  to  be  totally  forgotten ; 
the  forces  who  adhered  to  the  plan  of  the  fifteenth  being 
included  in  this  agreement. 

4th.  A  passport  out  of  the  republic  is  to  be  given  to 
whatever  individual,  comprehended  in  this  agreement, 
may  sohcit  it. 

5th.  The  troops  of  the  pronundados  are  to  proceed 
to  wherever  General  Valencia  orders  them,  commanded 
by  one  of  their  own  captains,  whom  he  shall  point  out, 
and  who  must  answer  for  any  disorders  they  may 
commit. 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  235 

6th.  General  Valencia,  and  all  the  other  generals 
of  his  army,  must  promise,  on  their  honor,  before  the 
whole  world,  to  keep  this  treaty,  and  see  to  its  exact 
accomplishment. 

7th.  It'  only  applies  to  Mexicans. 

8th.  Whenever  it  is  ratified  by  the  chiefs  of  both 
parties,  it  is  to  be  punctually  fulfilled,  hostilities  being 
suspended  until  six  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty-seventh, 
which  gives  time  to  ratify  the  conditions." 

Gomez  Farias  thus  for  a  time  disappeared  from  the 
history  of  Mexico.  When  Bustamente  was  expelled 
from  his  country  he  went  to  Europe,  and  amid  the 
double-faced  court  of  Louis  Philippe,  where  he  w^as 
feted  and  honored.  It  is  a  matter  of  some  self-congra- 
tulation that  Farias  sought  the  shores  of  the  United 
States.  Far  be  from  us  the  design  to  impugn  the 
motives  of  Bustamente,  who  seems  to  have  won  the 
hearts  of  all  w^ho  came  near  him.  The  aristocratically 
disposed  Madame  Calderon,  altogether  EngUsh  in  her 
views,  and  consequently  disposed  to  support  with  her 
ready  and  powerful  pen  that  clique  which  would  favor 
the  interests  of  her  country,  and  as  the  wife  of  a  Spa- 
nish ambassador  necessarily  remembering  that  the  re- 
presentative of  the  Spanish  crown  who  preceded  him, 
was  a  king  in  power  and  almost  in  station ;  and  the  demo- 
cratic ambassador  (comparatively  speaking),  all  unite  in 
giving  testimony  in  favor  of  his  honesty.  Of  this  there 
is  incontestible  proof  in  the  facts,  that  he  laid  down  his 
public  honors  and  his  high  power,  poorer  than  when  he 
entered  the  national  palace  as  president,  and  in  his  long 
exile  was  indebted  for  all  the  civility  he  received,  not  to 
wealth,  but  worth.  It  may  not  be  unsuitable  here  to 
refer  to  some  of  the  incidents  of  the  life  of  Busta- 
mente. 


236  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

When,  in  September  1810,  Hidalgo  and  Allende 
raised  the  cry  of  independence,  which  gathered  around 
them  most  of  the  true  hearts  of  Mexico,  Bustamente  was 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  a  physician  in  the  city  of 
Guadalajara,  which  is  about  fifty  leagues  west  of  Mex- 
ico. He  was  already  in  possession  in  that  career  of 
some  reputation,  when  he  felt  himself  called  on  to 
abandon  it  to  participate  in  the  efforts  being  made 
against  his  countrymen,  the  insurgents,  by  Spaniards. 
During  the  four  months  which  followed  the  first  pro- 
nunciamento,  he  had  under  the  orders  of  Calleja  fought 
against  the  cura  Hidalgo,  Allende,  Aldama,  and  Aba- 
solo,  the  four  principal  figures  of  the  great  scene  of 
Mexican  liberty.  He  was  a  participator  as  a  subaltern, 
it  is  said,  at  the  battle  of  Calderon,  and  acted  so  bravely 
as  to  attract  general  attention  to  him.  The  result  of 
this  sad  battle  has  already  been  described,  and  we  will  not 
now  follow  Bustamente  through  the  bloodstained  episodes 
of  this  cruel  w^ar,  every  page  of  the  history  of  which  is 
interesting  as  it  is  horrible.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  at 
length  he  joined  the  patriots,  disgusted  at  the  outrages 
of  Calleja  and  Vanegas,  and  became  a  general  in  the 
republican  ranks.  It  is  a  pleasant  task  to  say  that  one 
of  the  first  efforts  of  his  authority  was  to  take  down 
from  the  stakes  to  which  they  had  been  affixed,  the 
heads  of  Hidalgo  and  his  comrades,  whom  he  had  op- 
posed, and  have  them  buried  w^ith  the  rites  of  the  church ; 
for  they  had  been  inhumanly  treated  as  persons  heretical 
and  accursed.  This  was  the  year  of  the  revolt  of  Itur- 
bide,  to  whom  Bustamente  was  always  loyal,  and  in 
which  for  the  first  time  he  found  himself  in  direct 
opposition  to  Santa  Anna,  who  was  the  first  to  declare 
against,  as  he  had  been  the  first  to  hail  him  the  em- 
peror. 


DON    ANASTASIO    BUSTAMENTE. 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  237 

From  this  time  to  1828,  when  the  constitutional  presi- 
dency was  terminated,  Bustamente  participated  in  all 
affairs  of  state.  On  the  30th  of  November,  an  insur- 
rection broke  out  in  the  capital,  for  the  purpose  of  an- 
nullins:  the  election  of  Pedraza,  who  had  succeeded 
Victoria,  the  consequence  of  which  was  the  sacking  of 
the  seat  of  government,  the  expulsion  of  Pedraza,  and 
the  accession  to  power  of  Guerrero,  who,  though  called 
vice-president,  was  the  chief  magistrate  de  facto.  In  the 
next  year,  Guerrero  shared  the  fate  of  his  predecessor, 
except  that  death,  not  exile,  was  his  portion. 

In  December,  1829,  Bustamente  commanded  a  divi- 
sion encamped  at  Jalapa,  when,  as  happened  often  in 
that  portion  of  the  Roman  republic  Mexico  has  ever 
seemed  to  imitate,  the  soldiers  proclaimed  their  general 
the  ruler  of  their  country.  On  the  18th  of  December,  he 
set  out  for  the  capital,  which  he  approached  with  his 
indefatigable  soldiers  with  such  rapidity,  that  Guerrero 
was  unable  to  collect  a  sufficient  force  to  oppose  him, 
and  deserted  the  seat  of  government,  the  defence  of 
which  he  confided  to  a  subordinate  officer.  Mexico  can- 
not be  approached  from  Jalapa  without  a  great  detour,  ex- 
cept over  a  long  and  exposed  bridge  across  the  lakes 
which  are  on  the  western  side  of  the  city.  This  causeway 
existed  in  the  time  of  Montezuma,  and  across  it  Cortes 
marched  to  destroy  the  Aztec  empire.  Its  communica- 
tion was  at  the  barrier  of  Gaudelupe,  where,  as  well  as 
at  the  national  palace,  earthen  defences  were  hastily 
erected.  The  merchants  who  remembered  that  in  the 
same  month  of  the  preceding  year,  Mexico  had  been 
pillaged,  made  other  preparations  for  defence,  and  forti- 
fied their  warehouses.  All  who  have  ever  been  in  any 
city  of  Spanish  America,  are  aware  that  every  building 


238         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

is  a  castle,  and  in  the  hands  of  brave  men,  would  be  a 
serious  impediment  to  an  enemy. 

Parties  of  civicos  (armed  citizens)  also  patrolled  the 
streets.  This  body  was  created  in  imitation  of  the 
national  guard  of  France;  but  instead  of  being  the 
protectors,  like  them,  of  public  liberty,  are  composed, 
generally,  of  the  dregs  of  the  populace;  and  always 
have  been  found  ready  to  follow  any  enemy  of  pubhc 
peace. 

Bustamente  had  marched  to  within  a  few  leagues  of 
Mexico  between  the  18th  and  24th.  The  night  of  the 
22d  and  23d  was  very  dark,  and  a  thick  mist  hung, 
like  an  impenetrable  veil,  over  the  causeway,  and  con- 
cealed, from  the  sentinels  at  the  barrier  of  Guadalupe, 
a  black  mass,  which  advanced  rapidly  towards  this  out- 
let of  the  city.  At  length,  the  body  of  men,  for  such 
was  this  mass,  was  discovered. 

"  Quien  anda?^^  cried  the  sentinel.  ^^  AmigoSy^ 
was  the  reply.  "  Que  gente?'^  cried  the  sentinel  again. 
"  Tropas  de  Mejico.'^  They  were  suffered  to  pass  in  im- 
der  the  impression  that  they  were  partisans  of  Guerrero ; 
and  as  they  passed,  the  drowsy  guards  asked,  "  Donde 
han  vmdes  dejado  Bustamente?^^  (Where  have  you  left 
Bustamente?)  and  were  amply  satisfied  by  being  told, 
at  Cordova. 

Another,  and  yet  another  body  of  troops,  were  suf- 
fered to  pass  in  a  similar  manner. 

At  daybreak,  these  parties  united  into  one  column, 
and  proceeded  rapidly  down  the  streets  of  San  Francisco 
and  Plateros,  to  the  plaza  del  palacio^  of  w^hich,  as  well 
as  of  the  terraces  of  the  great  palace,  they  took  pos- 
session. In  but  a  short  time,  a  rumor  was  spread 
through  the  city,  that  a  regiment  of  insurgents  had 
passed  the  defences  in  disguise ;  and  crowds  collected  in 


FARIAS   AND   BUSTAMENTE.  239 

time  to  see  them  commence  an  attack  on  the  startled 
garrison.  Shot  flew  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd  ;  but 
all  were  too  anxious  about  the  result  to  leave.  Busta- 
mente  at  last  entered  the  palace,  and  by  energetic  mea- 
sures restored  tranquillity,  and  prevented  any  recurrence 
of  the  scenes  of  1828. 

Thus  was  accomplished  the  victory  of  the  Yorkinos 
over  the  Escoceses,  referred  to  in  the  account  of  the 
presidency  of  Guerrero.  Bustamente  was  for  three 
years  at  the  head  of  the  government,  which  was  in  fact 
administered  by  Don  Lucas  Alaman. 

During  his  government  he  sought  to  endow  Mexico 
with  the  benefits  of  art  and  manufactures,  and  es- 
tablished the  banco  de  avio  to  protect  them,  and  em- 
ployed eminent  artisans  of  other  countries  to  instruct 
the  natives.  Mexico  continued,  however,  in  a  con- 
dition of  turmoil,  in  consequence  of  the  hostilities  of 
Guerrero  with  Alvarez  and  Armijo,  in  the  south  of  the 
republic,  a  state  of  afl*airs  only  terminated  by  the 
death  of  the  unfortunate  president.  Of  all  participation 
in  this  the  world  has  acquitted  Bustamente,  and 
attributed  it  to  his  minister  Alaman,  in  the  life  of 
whom  will  be  fully  detailed  all  its  circumstances. 

In  1833,  when  Bustamente  was  replaced  by  Pe- 
draza,  and  Santa  Anna  become  president,  after  the 
expiration  of  Pedraza's  term,  congress  was  induced  by 
Santa  Anna  to  banish  a  number  of  his  enemies,  among 
whom  Bustamente  had  the  honor  to  be  included,  and  was 
sent  under  an  escort  to  Vera  Cruz,  whence  he  expected 
to  go  to  France.  The  ship  which  he  purposed  to  sail 
in,  was  not  however  ready,  and  Santa  Anna  caused 
him  to  be  confined  in  a  hulk  beneath  the  castle  with 
the  vilest  criminals,  an  indignity  base  as  it  was  useless. 

In  1836  he  visited  Europe,  where  he  attracted  much 


240  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

attention,  and  it  is  said  devoted  himself  to  the  studies 
of  the  peaceful  career  he  had  adopted  in  early  life. 

When  Texas  revolted  he  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and 
asked  to  be  permitted  to  draw  his  sword  in  defence  of 
the  rights  of  the  Mexican  nation  he  had  once  governed. 
He  was  more  fortunate  than  he  expected  ;  the  im- 
prisonment of  Santa  Anna  having  allowed  the  nation  to 
act  as  it  pleased,  he  was  chosen  president  on  the  25th. 
of  January,  1837,  and  was  inaugurated  on  the  20th  of 
April  of  the  same  year.  His  opponents  were  General 
Bravo,  his  old  minister  Alaman,  and  Santa  Anna.  The 
latter,  on  his  return,  was  accused  of  having  sacrificed 
the  interest  of  the  nation  by  an  onerous  treaty  he  had 
concluded  at  Washington,  but  found  Bustamente  had 
forgotten  all  his  private  wrongs  in  the  high  functions  of 
his  office. 

A  few  days  after  his  accession  to  power,  Bustamente, 
to  allay  the  impatience  of  his  troops,  who  had  long  been 
unpaid,  and  the  demands  of  whom  the  treasury  was 
unable  to  meet,  paid  to  them  from  his  own  funds,  ten 
thousand  dollars.  He  also  concluded  a  definitive  treaty 
with  Spain  on  the  8th  of  May,  by  which  that  power 
finally  consented  to  recognise  the  independence  of 
Mexico,  and  renounced  all  hopes  of  conquering  it. 

A  severer  ordeal  for  any  ruler  cannot  be  conceived 
than  that  to  which  Bustamente  was  subjected.  The 
Mexican  people  have  ever  been  prone  to  attribute  to  the 
government  all  their  misfortunes ;  and  the  capture  of 
San  Juan  by  the  French  won  for  him  many  enemies. 
The  penury  of  the  country  also  added  to  his  difficulties. 
Two  years  after  this  event,  congress  levied  an  impost 
of  fifteen  per  centum  on  all  articles  brought  into  the 
city  of  Mexico.  Commerce  was  already  depressed,  and 
this  circumstance  but  added  to  the  public  distress ;  the 


FARIAS    AND    BUSTAMENTE.  241 

many  murmurs  which  were  raised  by  the  people,  were 
eagerly  taken  advantage  of.  There  has  always  been  in 
Mexico  a  party  of  sincere  men,  lovers  of  the  system  of 
government  of  the  United  States,  who  neglect  no  op- 
portunity to  achieve  their  country's  independence,  who 
were  on  this  occasion  headed  by  Farias.  A  series  of 
fights  occurred,  which  filled  up  the  whole  space  between 
the  12th  and  the  27th  of  July,  the  result  of  which  has  been 
already  described  in  the  preceding  part  of  this  chapter, 
and  the  effect  of  which  was  that  Farias  was  driven 
into  exile.  There  is.,  however,  one  episode  which  de- 
serves particular  mention.  On  one  occasion  the  carmon 
had  beaten  in  the  wall  of  the  national  palace,  and  it  was 
evident  all  would  soon  be  over.  The  staff  and  friends 
of  Bustamente  besought  him  to  fly,  but  he  refused,  say- 
ing that  honor  and  duty  required  him  to  remain.  Just 
then  a  band  rushed  into  the  room,  crying,  "  Death  to 
Bustamente  !"  The  president  advanced  towards  them, 
threw  off  his  cloak,  and  showed  them  his  glittering  imi- 
form.  This  mtrepidity  saved  his  Hfe,  for  the  insurgents 
withdrew  without  daring  to  lift  a  hand  against  the 
representative  of  their  nation.  The  popular  cause,  how- 
ever, was  but  partially  successful ;  congress  removed 
the  new  tax,  and  Bustamente  retained  his  power.  In 
the  course  of  but  a  few  months,  a  new  revolution  broke 
out  which  changed  the  state  of  affairs.  Bustamente, 
disgusted  with  power,  resigned  and  returned  to  Europe 
in  the  months  of  September  and  October,  1842.  He 
passed  some  time  in  travelling,  and  finally  established 
himself  in  Genoa,  where  he  remained  until  the  new 
troubles  of  1844  and  1845  induced  him  again  to  seek 
his  native  land. 

In  June,  1845,  Santa  Anna  arrived  at  Havana,  in  the 
English  steamer  Medway,  and  met  Bustamente  on  his 
16 


242         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

way  to  Mexico.  Had  the  ex-dictator  gone  to  New  Or- 
leans, he  would  have  met  Farias  on  a  similar  voyage. 
In  the  two  victims  of  his  last  ambitious  intrigue,  he  read 
a  lesson  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy,  for,  though 
widely  differing  in  opinions,  both  Bustamente  and  Farias 
are  equally  honest. 

Both  Bustamente  and  Farias  have  since  participated 
in  public  affairs  in  a  civil  capacity ;  the  one  having  been 
president  of  the  congress  at  the  time  of  Paredes'  inaugu- 
ration, and  the  other  having  contributed  to  the  revolution 
which  restored  Santa  Anna. 

Events  have  recently  occurred  which  change  the 
whole  aspect  of  affairs,  and  have  produced  a  state  of 
things  which  may  conduce  ultimately  to  the  salvation  of 
Mexico,  provided  that  country  does  not  blindly  shut  her 
eyes  to  the  demonstrations  of  experience,  and  confide  in 
the  pretence  of  a  false  republicanism,  which  must  fade 
before  the  truth  of  institutions  more  liberal  in  character 
and  faithfully  executed. 

The  president,  Bustamente,  must  not  be  confounded 
with  his  kinsmen  Don  Carlos  Bustamente,  celebrated 
as  the  author  and  editor  of  many  works  on  Mexican  his- 
tor}-  and  the  memorials  of  the  Aztec  race,  and  Don  Jose 
Maria  Bustamente,  well  known  as  a  botanist  and  con- 
tributor to  the  natural  histor}-  of  his  country.  The  whole 
family  are  said  to  be  distinguished  by  high  talent  and 
devotion  to  Mexico. 


DON    MAKIANO    PAKEDES. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MARIANO   PAREDES  Y  ARRILLAGA  AND  DON  JUAN 
NEPOMUCENO  ALMONTE. 

Election  of  Herrera — Paredes  pronounces  against  him — Herrera 
deposed — Paredes  elected  President — Deposed — Imprisoned' 
— Escapes  to  Europe — Almonte — Battle  of  San  Jacinto— 
Almonte  sent  minister  to  England  and  France — His  char- 
acter. 

General  Paredes  is  a  new  man  in  the  history  of 
Mexico,  though  one  of  its  oldest  soldiers,  having  parti- 
cipated in  all  the  events  which  have  occurred  since  the 
days  of  Iturbide.  He  first  appears  in  the  history  of 
his  country  when  the  revolution  of  1840,  the  one  which 
overthrew  Bustamente,  occurred. 

General  Paredes  was  one  of  the  persons  whom  Bus- 
tamente had  especially  trusted,  yet  he  was  one  of  those 
who  first  pronounced  against  him,  and  evidently  was 
one  of  the  prime  movers  of  the  revolution  ;  having  been 
referred  to  pointedly  by  General  Valencia,  in  his  pro- 
clamation of  August  30,  1841,  in  the  same  paragraph 
in  which  he  mentions  Santa  Anna  and  Cortazar,  who 
avowedly  planned  the  whole  movement. 

At  this  time  Paredes  commanded  at  Queretaro,  nearly 
north  of  the  city,  and  in  the  direction  of  Guanajuato, 
and  Bustamente  marched  against  him,  but  was  forced 
to  return  on  account  of  intelligence  he  had  received  that 
Santa  Anna  was  advancing  to  the  capital  from  the  direc- 
tion of  Jalapa  and  Vera  Cruz. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  Paredes  was  very  influen- 
tial in  this  whole  movement ;  and  was  understood  to 


244  MEXICO   AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

speak  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  Jalisco,  Zacatecas, 
Aguas  Calientes,  Queretaro,  and  the  other  mining  dis- 
tricts, which  had  become  aware  that  their  mineral  wealth 
could  only  be  turned  to  advantage  by  the  employment 
of  foreign  capital,  and  were  eager  for  a  repeal  of  those 
organic  laws  which  prohibited  foreigners  from  acquiring 
real  estate  (which,  by-the-by,  he  has  always  been 
anxious  to  effect),  religious  toleration,  &c.  Whether  he 
was  sincere  in  this  has  appeared  a  mystery,  as  in  the 
revolt  of  Farias,  two  months  previously,  he  was  known 
to  have  opposed  that  person  with  all  his  power.  When 
the  crisis,  however,  came,  Paredes  refused  positively  to 
accept  the  executive  office,  and  insisted  on  its  being 
conferred  on  Santa  Anna.  His  reasons  for  this  have 
been  supposed  to  be  that  he  was  aware,  as  a  general  in 
command  of  a  strong  division,  he  would  always.be  able 
to  exert  much  influence,  and  at  least  take  care  of  him- 
self; while  as  president,  he  might,  at  any  moment,  be 
unseated,  and  driven  into  exile.  On  the  7th  of  October, 
the  revolution  terminated,  leaving  Santa  Anna,  where 
every  change  had  contributed  to  place  him,  in  power. 
One  thing  here  occurred,  which  shows  that  both  Santa 
Anna  and  Paredes  estimated  alike  the  value  of  the  army 
at  Guanajuato.  It  was  proposed  to  make  Paredes 
minister  of  war  and  marine ;  a  compliment  he  declined, 
as  he  was  aware  its  intention  was  to  separate  hira  from 
his  division. 

As  previously  stated,  Santa  Anna  continued  at  the 
head  of  affairs  as  dictator  until  the  first  of  January, 
1844,  when  he  was  installed  as  president.  In  the  course 
of  less  than  one  year,  a  revolution  broke  out,  the  result 
of  which  was  his  deposition,  and  the  election  of  Herrera 
to  replace  him. 

Santa  Anna  has  always  been  in  advance  even  of  the 


PAREDES    AND    ALMONTE.  245 

most  enlightened  of  his  countrymen,  and  was  aware  of 
the  power  of  the  United  States.  As  soon  as  he  saw 
that  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  inevitable,  he  pre- 
pared to  submit  to  it,  and  sought  gradually  to  bring  over 
the  Mexican  people  to  his  opinion.  The  consequence 
was,  that  towards  the  end  of  1844,  the  views  he  had  gra- 
dually begun  to  promulgate,  were  received  with  marked 
disfavor ;  and  Paredes  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
spontaneous  movement  which  pervaded  the  whole  of 
Mexico,  and  resulted  in  the  deposition  and  banishment 
of  Santa  Anna.  When  Paredes  commenced  this  revolt 
he  had  twenty-five  thousand  men  at  his  orders,  to  oppose 
which  Santa  Anna  could  muster  but  about  six  thousand, 
and  thirty  pieces  of  artillery,  a  proof  the  people  sided 
with  the  former. 

We  will  not  repeat  here  the  details  of  this  emeute, 
which  have  been  fully  given  in  the  life  of  Santa  Anna, 
but  will  content  ourselves  with  referring  briefly  to  the 
immediate  consequences  of  this  one  of  the  many  changes 
of  the  Mexican  government. 

Many  years  since,  a  band  of  Indians  of  the  Ojibway 
race,  were  sent  by  their  tribe  to  Washington  city,  to  ar- 
range some  of  the  many  difficulties  perpetually  occurring 
where  the  white  and  red  man  come  in  contact.  It  need 
not  be  said  that  on  their  journey,  every  care  was  taken 
that  the  sons  of  the  forest  should  see  all  that  passed  around 
them,  and  all  the  wonders  of  the  pale  faces.  They  finally 
returned  home,  having  settled  the  business  on  which 
they  had  been  sent,  loaded  with  presents,  but,  as  their 
brethren  thought,  having  betrayed  their  interests.  A 
general  council  of  the  nation  was  called,  and  the  envoys 
were  required  to  account  for  their  acts.  They  told  of 
the  wonders  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  with  its  thousand 
wigwams  and  twelve  thousand   inliabitants  (this  was 


246  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

twenty  years  ago);  of  Louisville,  of  the  steamboats,  and 
of  the  vast  cities  of  the  east,  and  were  listened  to  with 
astonishment,  but  were  believed.  While  the  envoys 
"were  in  the  United  States  there  chanced  to  be  exhibit- 
ing himself,  along  the  frontier,  an  eastern  juggler, 
who,  among  other  feats,  amused  the  audience  by  swal- 
lowing a  sword,  and  pulling  ribbons  from  his  mouth,  by 
some  peculiar  legerdemain.  The  Ojibway  council  had 
believed  all  the  astonishing  accounts  in  relation  to  the 
power  of  the  government ;  it  had  swallowed  the  histo- 
ries by  which  the  envoys  had  been  imposed  on,  but 
would  not  hear  one  w^ord  in  relation  to  the  steam  engines 
which  manufactured  cloth  and  ribbon,  for  they  had  seen 
the  juggler  pull  them  from  his  mouth.  Arguing  a  pos- 
terion,  they  disbelieved  all  former  tales,  said  that  the 
envoys  were  liars  and  unfit  to  live,  and  by  the  summary 
judgments  of  the  Indian  territory,  put  them  at  once  to 
death.  This  was  natural  enough,  for  the  world  always 
measures  what  it  hears  by  the  events  of  its  own  expe- 
rience. 

So  it  was  with  Santa  Anna ;  previous  to  the  war  of 
Mexico,  he  used  to  talk  gravely  of  taking,  some  day,  the 
city  of  New  Orleans  from  the  United  States,  and  was 
not  a  little  surprised  when  he  found  himself  a  prisoner, 
and  at  the  mercy  of  a  mere  abrasion  of  that  people. 

On  his  way  through  the  United  States,  he  had 
learned  how  vain  it  was  to  contend  against  it,  and 
sought  on  his  return  to  import  to  his  countrymen  the 
rational  views  he  had  imbibed.  The  people  of  Mexico 
believed  that  his  army  had  been  routed  in  Texas ;  they 
had  seen  the  fugitive  and  maimed  soldiers,  but  they 
could  not  realize  the  information  he  bore  them,  that  it 
was  better  for  the  magnanimous  Mexican  people  to 
lose  Texas  irretrievably,  than  engage  in  war  with  a 


PAREDES    AND    ALMONTE.  247 

nation  the  people  of  which  would  possibly  not  be  satis- 
fied till  they  had  reached  as  far  south  as  San  Luis 
Potosi,  if  they  did  not  insist  on  unfurling  their  banner 
over  the  halls  of  Mexico.  This  information,  gathered 
by  so  painful  an  experience,  could  not  be  appreciated 
by  the  people  of  Mexico,  and  enabled  Paredes  to  com- 
mence his  revolt. 

Those  who  have  followed  us  in  this  rambling  sketch 
of  the  revolutions  of  Mexico,  have  become  aware  that 
nowhere  has  power  so  little  security,  or  does  office  hold 
forth  less  inducement,  than  in  the  Mexican  nation. 
The  supreme  power  has,  since  the  first  outbreak  of 
Hidalgo,  been  occupied  by  more  than  forty  persons, 
who,  with  the  exception  of  those  who  have  died  by  the 
bullet  and  the  bayonet,  have  seemed  determined  to 
make  good  Mr.  Jefferson's  description  of  office-holders 
in  other  countries,  "that  few  die,  and  none  resign." 

Herrera  was  unable  long  to  keep  possession  of  the 
presidency.  Paredes  pronounced  against  him,  and  in 
union  with  Arista  contrived  to  depose  him.  The  pre- 
text for  this  movement  was  a  charge  that  Herrera 
sought  to  dismember  the  Mexican  union  by  treating 
with  the  United  States ;  and  the  army  of  reserve, 
stationed  at  San  Luis  and  Monterey,  was  advanced  to 
the  city  of  Mexico,  and  the  troops  of  Herrera  gave  in 
their  adhesion  to  the  more  successful  Paredes. 

This  resolution  was  momentous  to  Mexico,  the 
American  minister  immediately  leaving  the  country, 
and  Mexico  proceeding  to  adopt  a  line  of  policy  which 
made  inevitable  that  war  which,  in  spite  of  all  occur- 
rences, must  terminate  by  placing  her  at  the  mercy  of  a 
more  powerful  adversary. 

After  having  for  some  six  months  exercised  the 
supreme  power,  the  congress  convened  and  proceeded 


248  MF.XICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

to  re-organize  the  executive  branch,  which  had  not  been 
legally  occupied  since  the  ejection  of  Herrera,  and  on  the 
12th  of  June  Paredes  was  elected  president,  receiving 
fifty-eight  out  of  eighty-three  votes.  General  Bravo 
received  thirteen,  and  Herrera  seven.  Bravo  was  then 
elected  vice-president.  After  having  been  installed  on 
the  13th,  Paredes  obtained  permission  to  take  command 
of  the  army,  confiding  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment to  Bravo,  who  was  recalled  from  Vera  Cruz. 
The  events  of  the  war  belong  to  another  story  than 
this  ;  and  it  only  remains  to  state  that  various  pronun- 
ciamentos  were  made  during  the  month  of  July,  1846, 
to  which,  on  the  31st,  the  garrison  of  Vera  Cruz, 
headed  by  Generals  Landero  and  Perez,  acceded,  thus 
permitting  Santa  Anna  to  return,  which  he  inamedi- 
ately  did.  Bravo  assumed  at  once  the  title  of  provi- 
sional president.  General  Salas  almost  immediately 
seized  on  Paredes  and  imprisoned  him  in  the  citadel  of 
Mexico,  where  he  was  confined  until  the  latter  part  of 
September,  when  he  escaped  and  proceeded  to  Ha- 
vana. It  is  said  that  in  Europe  he  is  now  perseve- 
ringly  attempting  to  induce  the  governments  of  France 
and  England  to  interfere  in  the  existing  war,  in  behalf 
of  Mexico. 

The  motives  of  this  pronunciamento  have  been  much 
discussed,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  the  interruption  of 
intercourse  prevents  its  being  more  fully  understood,  by 
means  of  information  from  Mexicans,  who  alone  could 
solve  the  mystery  which  hangs  around  it.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  there  is  no  doubt,  contributed 
to  effect  it,  by  suffering  Santa  Anna  to  pass,  on  his  re- 
turn, through  a  blockading  squadron,  a  thing  now  not 
denied,  if  it  ever  was.  Why  it  did  so  seems  ob^dous. 
This  distinguished  chieftain  would  doubtless  be  a  formi- 


PAREDES  AND  ALMONTE.  249 

dable  antagonist  at  the  head  of  the  Mexican  army  ;  but 
there  was  no  doubt  that  the  men  who  conquered  at  Palo 
Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  and  in  front  of  Matamoras, 
the  Mexican  troops  commanded  by  Ampudia,  could 
conquer  again  the  same  men,  commanded  by  Santa 
Anna ;  while  it  was  obvious,  that  by  the  return  of  the 
latter  to  Mexico,  a  cabal  which  was  headed  by  Paredes, 
who,  for  that  purpose,  had  deposed  Herrera,  to  place  at 
the  head  of  the  Mexican  government  a  Spanish  or 
French  prince,  would  certainly  be  frustrated.  The 
event  justified  the  means:  the  Bourbonists  were  de- 
feated, and  Paredes  forced  to  seek  protection  among 
the  kings  for  whom  he  would  have  sacrificed  the  inde- 
pendence of  Mexico. 

Don  Juan  Nepumoceno  Almonte,  so  favorably  known 
in  this  country,  where  he  has  long  resided,  is  said  to  be 
a  natural  son  of  the  distinguished  General  Morelos.  In 
Mexico,  where  some  time  since  the  celibacy  of  the 
priests  was  scarcely  a  matter  of  profession  even,  the 
fact  has  never  been  denied ;  and  the  picture  of  the  priest 
of  Nucupetaro  is  said  by  travellers  to  have  hung  in  the 
house  of  Almonte,  and  to  have  been  treated  with  that 
respect  which  would  scarcely  be  elicited  by  the  picture 
of  one  not  a  relation.  When  Santa  Anna  marched 
against  Texas,  we  first  find  the  name  of  Almonte  oc- 
cupying a  prominent  position.  In  the  massacres  which 
will  long  serve  to  render  the  name  of  the  Mexican  sol- 
dier an  approbrium,  and  which  disgrace  that  campaign, 
we  do  not  find,  for  a  long  time,  any  account  of  Almonte, 
and  when  we  do,  it  is  in  the  act  of  performing  a  military 
duty,  and  .exhibiting  a  presence  of  mind  which  seemed 
to  have  deserted  all  others. 

At  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  when  the  Texans  made 
the  famous  charge  with  their  clubbed  rifles  and  bowie- 


250  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

knives,  which  won  the  day,  so  utterly  unused  were  the 
Mexicans  to  such  an  attack,  that  it  never  occurred  to 
them  either  to  resist  or  surrender.  Trusting  exclusively 
to  flight,  they  were  soon  overtaken  by  the  hardy  western 
hunters  who  composed  the  mass  of  Houston's  force,  and 
indiscriminately  slaughtered.  General  Almonte,  seeing 
that  the  fight  was  over,  called  around  him  a  few  officers, 
and  by  great  efforts  contrived  to  surrender  the  remnant 
of  that  army  wdth  which  Santa  Anna  had  boasted  he 
would  encamp  on  the  Sabine.  By  the  terms  of  the 
capitulation,  Almonte  returned  to  Mexico,  where  he 
found  all  things  in  disorder,  the  cause  of  his  friend  and 
patron,  Santa  Anna,  ruined,  and  Bustamente  seated  in 
the  chair  of  state.  He  was,  it  is  said,  very  poor,  but 
had  by  his  talents  made  himself  so  well  known,  that  the 
new  government  was  glad  to  avail  itself  of  his  talents 
as  minister  of  war.  When  the  pronunciamento  of  Urrea 
and  Farias  occurred,  Almonte  adhered  to  the  president, 
and  on  one  occasion  distinguished  liimself  by  the  same 
courage  which  was  so  pre-eminent  at  San  Jacinto. 
When  the  first  overt  act  was  made,  Almonte  chanced 
to  be  in  the  street,  and  was  met  by  Urrea  at  the  head 
of  few  soldiers,  who  asked  for  his  sword,  saying,  at  the 
same  time,  the  president  was  arrested.  Almonte  drew 
his  sword,  but  instead  of  surrendering  it  cut  his  way 
through  the  insurgents,  and  reached  the  citadel,  where 
he  concerted  the  measures  which  enabled  Bustamente  to 
repress  the  revolution  of  July.  Urrea  immediately 
retraced  his  steps,  and  passing  the  house  of  Almonte, 
discovered  his  lady  at  the  window,  of  whom,  as  quietly 
as  if  nothing  had  occurred,  he  asked  after  her  husband's 
health.  Her  astonishment  may  well  be  conceived, 
when,  not  long  afterward,  she  heard  what  had  hap- 
pened.    When  the  revolution  in  the  fall  of  the  year 


STREET    IN    MEXICO    DURING   THE    REVOLUTION    OF    1840. 


PARADES    AND    ALMONTE.  251 

deprived  Bustamente  of  power,  Almonte  left  office  with 
a  great  portion  of  his  salary  undrawn,  and  was  so  poor 
that,  previously  to  his  appointment  as  ambassador  to  the 
United  States,  he  supported  himself  by  delivering  po- 
pular lectures  in  the  capital  on  scientific  subjects. 

General  Almonte  resided  long  in  this  country,  making 
many  personal  friendships,  which  have  not  been  inter- 
rupted by  the  occurrence  of  national  difficulties;  and 
finally  returned  to  Mexico.  When  diplomatic  inter- 
course was  terminated  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Shannon 
from  the  city  of  Mexico,  he  continued  high  in  favor  with 
Santa  Anna,  until  the  cabal  arose  which  exiled  him; 
and  even  while  the  dictator  was  in  prison,  worked  in  his 
favor  with  such  zeal,  that  more  than  once  it  was  doubt- 
ful if  he  would  not  be  removed  from  the  citadel,  where 
he  was  a  prisoner,  to  the  national  palace  as  president. 
These  efforts,  however,  were  unavailing ;  and,  when  all 
was  over  with  his  friend,  Almonte  was  sent,  in  a  diplo- 
matic capacity,  to  the  courts  of  France  and  England. 
He  repaired  thither  by  way  of  Havana,  where  he  saw 
and  had  much  intercourse  with  General  Santa  Anna. 
Whether  it  be  that  the  appointment  he  had  received 
was  a  ruse  to  remove  him  from  Mexico,  or  that  Herrera 
had  become  alarmed  at  the  results  of  his  conference  with 
the  ex-dictator,  cannot  now  be  determined ;  but  his  mis- 
sion was  immediately  revoked.  He  returned  to  Havana, 
where  he  remained  until  the  recall  of  Santa  Anna,  under 
whom  he  has  filled  important  functions. 

Few  men  in  Mexico  are  more  favorably  known.  He 
is  brave,  cultivated,  and  intelligent ;  and  is  likely  to  rise 
to  a  more  exalted  position  than  he  has  yet  reached, 
having  now  the  respect  and  support  of  the  better  class 
of  his  countrymen,  of  all  phases  of  political  opinions. 


CHAPTER  X. 

DON  MARIANO  ARISTA  AND  OTHER  GENERAL 
OFFICERS. 

Arista — Jarochos — Campaign  in  the  department  of  Vera  Cruz — 
Duran's  insurrection — Insurrection  quelled — Arista  ordered 
to  the  Rio  Grande — Ampudia — Battle  of  Mier — Naval  action 
— La  Vega. 

When  Santa  Anna  was  governor  of  Vera  Cruz,  in 
1828  (the  crisis  of  tlie  cabals  between  the  Yorkinos  and 
Escoceses),  Arista  was  a  colonel  and  his  aid-de-camp, 
and  participated  in  the  attempt  made  with  success,  on 
the  castle  of  Perote.  When  the  congress,  in  conse- 
quence, declared  Santa  Anna  an  outlaw,  Arista  was  also 
included  in  the  decree,  and  for  a  long  series  of  years 
participated  in  all  his  fortunes.  To  Arista,  who  has  the 
reputation  of  being  one  of  the  best  cavalry  officers  in  the 
worid,  it  is  not  improbable  Santa  Anna  was  indebted  for 
the  formation  of  that  famous  corps  of  men,  with  whom 
he  commenced  the  rambling  campaign  over  the  whole 
department  of  Vera  Cruz,  which  first  established  the 
future  dictator's  reputation  as  a  soldier,  and  in  spite  of 
all  other  checks  he  may  have  experienced,  will  place 
Santa  Anna's  fame  as  an  officer  and  brave  man,  beyond 
all  dispute. 

These  men  were  all  from  the  tierra  caliente,  of  mixed 
Spanish,  Aztec,  and  negro  blood,  as  we  have  said  be- 
fore, proof  against  weather  and  fever,  very  Arabs  in 
constitution,  while,  from  their  vicinity  to  the  mountains 
of  the  tierra  templada,  they  are  enabled  to  acquire  the 
agility  of  the  chamois  hunters  of  the  alps.     Their  horses 


DON    MARIANO    ARISTA. 


ARISTA.  253 

were  like  them,  wild  looking  and  small,  but  hardy  as 
their  riders.  Their  arms  were  the  lance  and  carbine, 
and  their  food,  whatever  they  could  find.  The  head  of 
this  corps,  which,  in  emergencies,  could  always  be  in- 
creased indefinitely  by  all  the  rancheros  or  herdsmen  of 
the  district  it  chanced  to  occupy,  was  Arista.  Empha- 
tically a  hombre  de  caballo,  or  horseman  who  was,  it  is 
said,  able  to  perform  feats  of  horsemanship  amid  the  bat- 
tle when  squadrons  were  charging  around  him,  that  one 
of  Franconi's  pupils,  with  the  readiest  eye  and  boldest 
seat,  would  scarcely  attempt  in  the  arena. 

The  result  of  this  campaign  we  have  already 
described,  and  we  will  only  say  here,  that  though  the 
forces  of  Santa  Anna  were  finally  driven  into  Oaxaca, 
and  almost  destroyed,  yet  he  had  distracted  the  atten- 
tion of  Pedraza's  government  so  long  that  Guerrero 
was  ultimately  enabled  to  triumph.  When  Santa  Anna 
became  secretary  of  war  under  Guerrero,  Arista  was 
not  neglected,  and  was  made  use  of  to  keep  up  his  in- 
fluence in  the  tierra  caliente,  until  Santa  Anna  thought 
proper  to  instal  Pedraza  again. 

In  the  expedition  against  the  last  Spanish  invaders, 
Arista  also  figured,  and  received  a  large  portion  of  the 
rewards  of  the  success.  When  Bustamente  was  de- 
posed, Arista  was  yet  the  main-spring  of  all  the  plots 
of  the  period,  though  apparently  occupied  solely  with 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  brigadier  and  commander 
of  a  department.  In  this  movement  Arista  also  figured 
as  chief  of  the  Jorochos,  or  men  from  the  tierra  caliente, 
who  exalted  Santa  Anna  to  power  in  1832.  Towards 
the  end  of  1833  happened  one  of  those  ridiculous 
scenes,  which,  like  the  ecclesiastical  nolo  episcopari,  or 
Caesar's  refusal  of  the  crown,  have  occurred  in  every 
country.     General  Duran,  who  commanded  in  Valli- 


254         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEIFTAINS. 

dolid  or  Morelia,  having  commenced  an  insurrection  for 
the  purpose  of  proclaiming  Santa  Anna  dictator,  the 
latter  patriotic  and  self-sacrificing  individual  was  stirred 
with  the  greatest  indignation,  and  as  the  depository  of 
law  and  power,  immediately  marched  to  give  the  world 
an  example  of  that  superhuman  virtue  which  made  old 
Rome  so  illustrious.  He  was  of  course  accompanied  by 
his  fidus  Achates,  General  Arista.  The  latter,  how- 
ever, was  no  Roman,  but  a  genuine  Mexican,  and 
immediately  proposed  to  the  president  to  let  General 
Duran  have  his  way,  and  to  accept  the  greatness  thrust 
upon  him.  Santa  Anna  was  indignant,  and  told  Arista 
that  an  acquaintance  of  so  many  years'  standing  should 
have  taught  him  to  appreciate  his  public  virtue,  and 
ordered  him  to  be  silent  for  ever  on  the  subject.  Arista 
immediately  declared  that  he  would  not  obey  him ;  that 
his  first  duty  was  to  his  country,  and  that  if  Santa 
Anna  would  not  consent  to  be  the  savior  of  Mexico 
willingly,  he  would  make  him  serve  her. 

Arista  immediately  joined  Duran  with  a  large  body 
of  troops,  many  of  whom,  strangely  enough,  were  Ja- 
rochos,  or  men  from  the  tierra  caliente,  to  whom  we 
have  previously  referred  as  being  so  devoted  to  Santa 
Anna.  In  the  course  of  this  contest,  in  which  there 
were  many  manoeuvres  and  no  men  killed  but  a  few 
known  to  adhere  to  the  republican  vice-president,  Gomez 
Farias,  Santa  Anna  was  made  prisoner  and  returned  to 
Mexico,  whither  the  revolt  of  Duran  had  extended,  the 
garrison  of  the  citadel  and  the  city  having  given  their 
adhesion  to  it.  Farias  opposed  it;  but  the  honor  of 
suppressing  it  was  reserved  for  Santa  Anna.  This 
bene  merito  of  the  country  then  marched  against  Arista 
and  Duran,  whom  he  forced  to  capitulate  (need  we  say 
the  terms  were  not  severe),  and  retired  to  Mango  de 


ARISTA.  255 

Clavo,  intrusting  the  administration  to  Farias  until  new- 
events  occurred. 

We  here  lose  sight  of  Arista  for  a  long  time,  during 
which  he  was  at  Cincinnati,  in  the  United  States,  in  exile. 
In  connexion  with  this  period  of  his  life,  an  interesting 
anecdote  is  told.  Having  been  disappointed  in  the 
receipt  of  funds,  he  was  in  great  distress,  and  worked 
for  some  time  as  a  journeyman  tinman,  until  circum- 
stances relieved  him  from  necessity.  When  the  French 
landed  at  Vera  Cruz,  Arista,  the  story  goes,  was  found 
in  Santa  Anna's  house,  and  surrendered  to  the  Prince  de 
Joinville,  w^ho  is,  by  the  French  authorities,  said  to  have 
headed  the  party  directed  especially  against  Santa  Anna. 
In  the  rest  of  the  career  of  the  dictator  until  his  exile, 
Arista  remained  with  him ;  and  when  war  became  immi- 
nent, having  been  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  army 
of  Mexico  on  the  north,  was  ordered  with  reinforce- 
ments to  the  Rio  Grande,  where  Ampudia  commanded. 
The  two  acted  in  concert,  and  contrived  to  lose  battle 
after  battle  in  the  most  unprecedented  manner,  and  to 
march  and  countermarch  between  Monterey  and  the 
Rio  Grande  without  opposing  even  a  momentary  check 
to  the  American  general.  This  circumstance  gives  us 
the  clue  to  the  character  of  Arista.  He  had  not,  in  all 
his  early  career,  exercised  any  important  command,  and 
his  master-mind,  Santa  Anna,  being  absent,  he  was 
altogether  inadequate  to  the  emergency  of  his  situation. 
The  quarrel  betw^een  Arista  and  Ampudia  consequent 
on  the  battle  of  La  Resaca,  might  explain  these  events 
to  the  advantage  of  the  former  and  to  the  Mexican 
people.  This,  however,  is  a  task  incumbent  on  a 
Mexican,  and  cannot  be  done  satisfactorily  till  the  war 
shall  have  ended. 


256  MEXICO   AND    HER  MILITARY    CHIEI-TAINS. 

Don  Pedro  de  Ampudia  has  very  long  been  an  of- 
ficer of  the  Mexican  army,  and  became  a  general  after 
Santa  Anna  had  deposed  Bustamente  in  1840.  He  par- 
ticipated in  many  of  the  events  of  the  Mexican  expedi- 
tions against  Texas.  His  first  prominent  service  was  in 
1842,  when  a  Mexican  foray,  headed  by  General  Wohl, 
was  made  against  the  frontier  of  Texas,  and  many  citi- 
zens were  imprisoned  and  carried  off.  It  has  been  said 
that  this  expedition  was  never  authorized  by  the  Mexi- 
can government,  but  was  composed  entirely  of  rancheros, 
who  were  collected  by  the  hope  of  plunder.  Houston, 
the  president  of  Texas,  immediately  ordered  out  eight 
hundred  volunteers  to  rendezvous  at  San  Antonio,  on  the 
27th  of  October,  to  oppose  the  force  of  Wohl,  which 
consisted  of  thirteen  hundred  men.  The  command  of 
this  expedition  belonged  to  General  Summerville,  who, 
how^ever,  on  his  arrival  at  San  Antonio,  found  many  per- 
sons w^illing  to  dispute  the  command  with  him.  The 
troops,  however,  finally  obeyed  him,  and  he  marched  to 
the  Rio  Grande  and  took  possession  of  the  town  of  Loredo. 
Before  reaching  this  place,  many  symptoms  of  mutiny 
occurred,  and  after  he  had  left  it,  two  hundred  Texans, 
in  open  defiance  of  his  authority,  marched  back  and 
pillaged  the  inhabitants  of  everything  worth  being  car- 
ried off.  This  occurrence,  so  very  disgraceful,  and 
which  would  have  placed  Texas  and  her  people  on  a 
level  with  the  brigands  of  Wohl,  had  it  been  approved 
of,  determined  General  Summerville  to  retrograde,  which 
was  certainly  the  course  otherwise  dictated  by  policy,  as 
it  was  obvious  that  the  people  of  the  Rio  Grande  were 
too  poor  to  support  his  forces,  and  he  had  not  men 
enough  to  make  any  permanent  impression  on  Mexico. 

At  this  juncture  the  excitement  became  universal,  and 
the  men  so  clamorous,  that  a  council  of  officers  w^as 


AMPUDIA.  257 

convened  to  decide  on  the  course  of  the  expedition, 
the  result  of  which  was,  that  a  few  already  disgusted 
by  what  had  occurred,  returned  home,  but  the  majority 
continued  their  march.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that 
Summerville  did  not  accompany  those  who  returned. 
He,  however,  continued  as  far  as  Guerrero,  with  no  other 
intention  than  plunder.  This  was  a  miserable  village 
where  the  people  are  poor  and  starving,  without  mines, 
agricultural  w^ealth,  or  any  other  inducement,  yet  it  was 
besieged.  This  circumstance  so  terrified  the  people  that 
they  sought  by  presents  to  propitiate  the  officers  of  the 
expedition,  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  a  scene  as 
had  taken  place  at  Loredo.  There  was  much  dissatis- 
faction among  the  men,  who,  however,  resolved  to  con- 
tinue on  to  Mier,  a  town  of  considerable  importance. 

Here,  General  Summerville  became  disgusted ;  and, 
as  ammunition  had  begun  to  fail,  did  what  he  should 
have  done  long  before,  called  on  his  men  to  return.  One 
hundred  obeyed  him ;  and  the  rest,  under  another  com- 
mander, resolved  to  attack  Mier.  The  force  which  re- 
mained consisted  of  about  two  hundred  and  seventy 
men ;  and  it  is  a  mystery  how  they  contrived  to  keep 
together,  as  their  ideas  of  military  obedience  w^ere  of 
the  rudest  kind.  Who  really  commanded  is  even  now 
uncertain.  A  message  was  sent  to  the  alcalde,  calling 
for  a  contribution  of  five  thousand  dollars ;  and,  when 
informed  that  all  the  money  that  could  or  w^ould  be 
be  extorted  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  dol- 
lars, the  officers  determined  to  attack  the  town,  though 
aware  that  Don  Pedro  de  Ampudia  w^as  within  it,  at  the 
head  of  a  large  force. 

On  Christmas  day,  the  town  was  attacked;  and, 
when  night  came  on,  the  Texan  force,  under  a  heavy 
fire,  was  slowly  forcing  its  way  into  the  streets.      It 


258  MEXICO    AND    HRR    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

cannot  be  denied,  unholy  as  the  object  of  the  expedition 
was  become,  the  mass  of  its  members  being  attracted  by 
the  desire  of  plundering  the  Mexican  churches,  and  by 
the  lawless  pleasures  of  a  partisan  war,  the  officers  and 
men  fought  \\ith  that  courage  and  perseverance  which 
have  been  conspicuous  through  the  whole  war  of  Texan 
independence.  They  at  last  reached  a  house  where  they 
were  protected  from  the  ordnance  of  Ampudia,  and  the 
contest  was  suspended  until  the  next  morning. 

The  Mexicans  then  advanced  to  the  attack,  and 
assault  after  assault  failed,  the  officers  being  con- 
spicuous by  their  insignia,  and  falling,  one  after  the 
other,  before  the  deadly  aim  of  the  Texan  rifle.  Am- 
pudia at  last  sent  an  officer  with  a  white  flag  to  offer 
terms,  which,  after  much  dehberation,  were  accepted. 
The  terms  were,  that  they  were  to  be  surrendered  as 
prisoners  of  war.  The  loss  of  Ampudia  in  this  action  is 
said  to  have  exceeded  five  hundred  men ;  a  thing  likely 
enough,  as  he  acknowledged  to  have  lost  two  hundred. 
The  Texans  had  twelve  men  killed  and  eighteei. 
wounded ;  and  the  survivors  no  sooner  were  in  his 
power,  than  they  were  chained  two  together,  and  every 
stipulation  of  the  surrender,  except  that  which  secured 
their  lives,  violated. 

The  events  of  this  expedition  have  been  the  subject 
of  much  comment.  The  captured  Texans  were  taken  to 
various  prisons,  and  a  large  party  were  long  employed 
in  laboring  on  the  streets  of  Tacubaya.  While  on 
their  march  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  they,  on  one  occa- 
sion, overpowered  the  guard,  and  seized  its  arms,  a  cir- 
cumstance of  which  advantage  was  taken  by  Santa 
Anna,  to  order  them  all  to  be  shot.  This  sentence  was 
afterwards  relaxed,  and  every  tenth  man  was  made  an 
example  of. 


AMPUDIA.  259 

Ampudia  was,  for  his  conduct  on  this  occasion,  much 
applauded ;  and  we  ahnost  lose  sight  of  him  until  the 
army  of  the  United  States  approached  the  Rio  Grande, 
when  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  district  around 
Matamoras,  in  which  were  Loredo  and  Mier,  the  scenes 
of  his  former  triumphs. 

Ampudia  has,  however,  made  himself  infamous  by  an 
act  of  brutality,  unequalled  for  many  centuries  in  a 
civilized  country.  In  the  summer  of  1844,  the  Mexi- 
can General  Sentmanat,  exiled  by  Santa  Anna,  made  a 
rash  attempt  on  the  town  of  Tobasco,  at  the  head  of  but 
fifty  men,  so  confident  was  he  of  being  supported  by  the 
population.  The  vessel  which  bore  them  was  taken  by 
a  Mexican  man-of-war,  and  this  forlorn  hope  was  sur- 
rendered to  Ampudia.  The  unfortunate  general  was, 
w^ith  fourteen  of  his  companions,  shot ;  and  their  heads, 
the  monster  Ampudia  states  in  his  despatch,  he  caused 
to  be  boiled  in  oil,  and  hung  in  iron  cages  to  the  walls 
of  the  town. 

General  Sentmanat  had  lived  long  in  New  Orleans, 
where  he  married,  and  had  many  friends ;  and  the  news 
of  his  death  was  received  with  a  burst  of  indignation, 
which  may  account  for  the  prejudice  entertained  in  the 
United  States  against  Ampudia  more  than  against  any 
other  Mexican  general. 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Mier,  which  took 
place  in  December  1842,  General  Ampudia  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  army,  more  than  ten  thousand  strong,  which 
had  been  for  two  months  besieging  the  city  of  Campeche, 
(Yucatan),  which  port  was  also  blockaded  by  the  entire 
naval  force  of  Mexico,  consisting  of  three  steamers,  two 
brigs,  and  two  schooners,  under  the  command  of  Admi- 
ral Lopez.  Campeche  held  out  nobly,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing April,  1843,  that  port  was  reheved  by  the  arrival 


260  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

of  Commodore  E.  W.  Moore,  of  the  Texan  navy,  who 

had  been  detained  in  New  Orleans  for  the  want  of 
means  to  fit  out ;  which,  although  they  had  been  appro- 
priated by  the  Texan  congress  in  July,  1842,  were  most 
unaccountably  withheld  by  President  Houston  at  that 
time,  who  controlled  the  destiny  of  Texas. 

The  government  of  Yucatan  furnished  Commodore 
Moore  with  means  to  get  to  sea,  with  which  and  the 
aid  of  friends  in  New  Orleans,  he  sailed  from  that 
port  on  the  15th  of  April,  1843,  in  command  of  the 
sloop-of-war  Austin,  mounting  eighteen  (medium)  twen- 
ty-four-pounders, and  two  eighteens,  accompanied  by 
the  brig  Wharton,  Captain  Lothrop,  mounting  sixteen 
(medium)  eighteen-pounders.  With  these  two  vessels, 
which  were  well  manned  and  thoroughly  equipped, 
Commodore  Moore  sailed  for  Campeche,  where  he 
arrived  on  the  30th  of  April,  and  attacked  the  whole 
Mexican  fleet,  which  after  an  action  of  over  an  hour, 
hauled  off — but  renewed  the  fight  again  during  the 
interim  of  calm  between  the  land  and  sea  breeze ;  their 
steam  giving  them  great  advantage,  besides  their  great 
superiority  in  weight  of  metal.  Commodore  Moore  had 
in  the  meantime  been  joined  by  four  gun-boats,  which 
came  out  from  Campeche  ;  the  action  this  time  lasted 
but  little  over  half  an  hour,  when  the  Mexicans  again 
hauled  off.  On  tlie  16th  of  May  another  engagement 
took  place,  which  lasted  more  than  four  hours,  the  particu- 
lars of  which  would  exhibit,  in  the  Texan  naval  forces,  the 
existence  of  the  gallantry-  which  has  ever  characterized 
the  same  arm  of  the  public  service  of  tlie  United  States. 

Commodore  Moore  made  repeated  efforts  to  engage 
the  enemy  prior  to  the  last  action,  (May  16th),  which 
was  fought  by  Commodore  Don  Thomas  Marine,  Admi- 
ral Lopez  having  been  arrested  and  sent  to  Vera  Cruz 


AMPUDIA.  261 

for  trial,  for  not  capturing  the  two  Texan  vessels. 
Commodore  Moore  had  one-fourth  of  his  force  killed 
and  wounded,  but  he  made  repeated  efforts  to  bring  on 
another  battle,  which  Commodore  Marine,  the  Mexican 
commander,  avoided,  his  steam  enabhng  him  to  do  so 
whenever  he  chose. 

On  the  night  of  the  26th  of  June,  the  Mexican  army 
embarked  on  board  of  their  vessels  of  war  and  a  few 
transports  (it  having  been  reduced  full  one-half  by  the 
vomito  and  desertions),  and  fell  back  to  Tobasco,  where 
General  Ampudia  remained  until  the  summer  of  1844  ; 
whence  he  was  transferred  after  his  barbarous  course 
towards  the  gallant  Sentmanat. 

The  following  was  the  force  of  the  Mexican  navy : 

Steamer  Montezuma,  tw^o  sixty-eights  and  six  forty- 
twos,  Paxihan  guns. 

Steamer  Guadalupe,  two  sixty-eight  Paixhans  and 
two  long  thirty-twos. 

Steamer  Rejenerador,  one  long  thirty- two  and  two 
long  nines. 

Schooner  Eagle,  one  long  thirty-two  and  six  eigh- 
teens,  all  Paixhans. 

Brig  Yucateco,  one  long  eighteen  and  sixteen  eigh- 
teen-pound carronades. 

Brig  Yman,  one  long  twelve  and  eight  six-pounders. 

Schooner  Campecheano,  one  long  nine  and  two  six- 
pounders. 

This  is  the  first  time  that  steam  and  sail  vessels  had 
ever  come  in  contact,  and  Commodore  Moore  beat 
these  three  steamers  (two  of  them  armed  with  heavy 
Paixhan  guns),  they  having  a  sail  force  co-operating  with 
them,  fully  equal  to  the  force  of  the  two  Texan  vessels. 
It  was  also  the  first  time  that  Paixhan  guns  had  been 
used  in  a  naval  combat. 


262  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

The  reason  why  Commodore  Moore  ventured  on 
such  an  unequal  contest,  was  to  save  Galveston,  the 
principal  port  of  Texas,  from  an  attack  as  soon  as  Yuca- 
tan had  surrendered,  which  she  was  on  the  eve  of  doing, 
the  preliminaries  having  been  agreed  on  between  Gene- 
ral Ampudia  and  Governor  Meredez,  of  Yucatan,  who 
was  in  command  of  the  troops  at  Campeche,  and  the 
articles  of  compromise  were  to  have  been  signed  the 
very  day,  April  30th,  1843,  that  Commodore  Moore 
arrived  oflf  Campeche,  and  defeated  the  Mexican 
squadron. 

Comment  is  useless  upon  the  value  that  the  little  navy 
of  Texas  was  to  that  republic,  in  her  struggle  for  independ- 
ence, by  keeping  her  ports  open,  and  the  entire  coast 
clear  of  all  Mexican  cruisers,  from  the  year  1839  to  the 
treat)'  of  annexation,  when  the  Texas  navy  was  laid  up  in 
ordinary-,  (protection  having  been  then  guarantied  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States.)  Although  two  procla- 
mations of  blockade  of  the  ports  of  Texas  were  pub- 
lished by  the  Mexican  authorities,  one  in  1839  and  the 
other  in  1840,  the  ^Mexican  vessels  of  war  were  kept  in 
their  own  ports,  and  many  of  their  merchant  vessels  were 
captured  by  the  Texan  cruisers  under  Commodore 
Moore,  who  was  all  the  while  off  the  Mexican  coast 
with  some  of  the  vessels  under  his  command,  up  to  the 
summer  of  1842.  At  this  time  he  went  into  New  Or- 
leans to  refit,  which  he  was  prevented  from  doing  by  the 
extraordinary  course  of  President  Houston,  already  men- 
tioned, who  withheld  the  appropriations  of  congress  for 
that  purpose,  and  left  Commodore  Moore  to  keep  up  the 
navy  with  his  own  means  and  resources,  which  he  did 
for  upwards  of  nine  months,  and  finally  fitted  them  out 
for  a  cruise  without  a  dollar  from  his  government. 
He  was  proclaimed  a  traitor  and  pirate  by  the  presi- 


LA    VEGA.  263 

dent  of  Texas  for  this  course,  but  nobly  sustained  by 
the  people  and  congress  of  the  republic. 

This  proclamation  of  Houston's  was  published  in 
Texas  the  same  day  that  Commodore  Moore  fought  the 
overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy  for  more  than  four 
hours,  and  chased  them,  as  Commissioner  Morgan  says 
in  his  testimony  before  the  court  martial  ordered  by  the 
congress  of  Texas  at  the  urgent  request  of  Commodore 
Moore,  <«  so  far  to  sea  that  he  could  not  see  us  from  the 
top  of  the  house  he  was  on  in  Campeche." 

The  resolutions  of  the  people  of  Matagorda  and  Gal- 
veston counties  contain  some  interesting  statements  and 
show  the  feelings  of  the  people.  Meetings  were  also 
held  in  many  of  the  other  counties  of  the  republic,  and 
the  disapprobation  of  the  people  expressed  in  strong 
terms,  of  the  course  pursued  by  President  Houston 
towards  the  commodore  of  the  little  navy  of  Texas. 

The  conduct  of  Ampudia  since  the  war,  has  been 
much  censured  by  his  countrymen,  and  in  the  United 
States  many  have  been  found  willing  to  decry  him.  He 
has  had,  undeniably,  great  difficulties  to  contend  with, 
and  has  scarcely  had  an  opportunity  to  act  otherwise 
than  he  has  done.  He  was  in  command  of  men  pre- 
pared to  be  conquered,  who  had  a  great  disinclination 
to  meet  the  American  army,  and  who  had,  it  will  be 
remembered  by  all,  mutinied  at  San  Luis,  when  first 
ordered  to  the  frontier.  He  appears,  in  spite  of  all  evi- 
dencSj  to  have  done  his  duty  as  long  as  any  of  his  brethren. 
He  has  since  been  arrested,  and  though  released,  now 
occupies  no  prominent  position. 

Don  RoMULO  DE  LA  Vega  is  a  soldier  by  profession, 
and  when  the  war  broke  out  only  occupied  the  rank  of 
colonel  of  infantry,  with  the  title  or  brevet  of  general 
of  brigade.      He   has   won   much    reputation    in   this 


264  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

country  since  the  war,  having  previously  been  entirely 
unknown.  He  has  been  stationed  for  many  years  on  the 
northern  frontier  of  Mexico,  and  was  for  a  long  time 
xafe  militar  of  the  department  in  which  Monclova 
is  situated.  At  the  battle  of  the  9th  of  May  he  was 
taken  prisoner  while  fighting,  and  having  been  ex- 
changed, was  again  captured  at  Cerro  Gordo  during 
the  present  campaign.  It  has  been  stated  that  General 
La  Vega  has  not  made  the  return  which  might  have 
been  expected  from  so  brave  a  man,  for  the  hospitality 
and  consideration  extended  to  him,  and  that  on  his 
return  to  Mexico  he  suffered  American  ojfificers  who 
had  been  captured  to  continue  in  prisons  not  fit  recep- 
tacles for  military  men.  It  may  be  doubted,  however, 
if  he  has  ever  had  the  power  to  change  their  situation. 
He  is,  it  ^vill  be  remembered,  only  a  brigadier,  with 
many  superiors,  and  with  little  influence.  His  gallantry 
has,  it  seems,  been  appreciated  in  Mexico,  where  he  has 
since  his  return  received  promotion,  and  had  confided  to 
him  an  important  command,  a  rare  compliment  to  be 
bestowed  on  an  unfortunate  soldier.  Whether  he  de- 
serves this  applause,  may  be  doubted  ;  for  many  have 
always  been  disposed  to  think,  that  when  victory  is 
hopeless,  the  bravest  soldier  may  be  permitted  to  think 
of  himself. 

General  La  Vega  is  young  and  handsome,  with  an 
appearance  altogether  prepossessing,  and  manners  that 
\von  at  once  the  sympathy  and  friendship  of  the  officers 
of  the  army  of  the  L'nited  States,  into  the  society  of. 
whom  he  was  cast.  The  last  advic-es  from  Mexico 
represent  him  as  a  prisoner  at  Jalapa,  where,  however, 
he  is  not,  and  probably  will  not  be  subjected  to  re- 
straint, unless  a  guerilla  war  should   force  upon   the 


LA  VEGA.  265 

government  of  the  United  States  a  course  of  reprisals,  and 
a  more  severe  system  than  has  hitherto  been  adopted  by 
them  towards  prisoners  of  war.  General  La  Vega,  it 
is  said,  while  in  the  United  States,  became  engaged  to 
be  married  to  a  lady  of  New  Orleans,  to  whom  on  the 
termination  of  the  war  he  will  be  united.  He  no 
doubt  devoutly  prays  for  this  consummation  of  his 
wishes. 


CHAPTER  XL 

DON  LUCAS  ALAMAN  AND  DON  JOAQUIN  HERRERA. 

Alaman — His  personal  appearance — Character — Visits  Europe 
— Appointed  minister  of  foreign  affairs — Reforms  in  the  go- 
vernment of  Mexico — Execution  of  Guerrero — Banco  de  avio 
— Revolution — Alaman  again  elevated  to  office — Bustamente 
deposed — Alaman  establishes  a  cotton  manufactory — His 
failure — Made  minister  of  foreign  aflfairs  in  1842 — Herrera 
— His  character. 

"  About  the  end  of  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty," 
says  a  French  writer,  "  there  occurred  at  Mexico  a  mys- 
terious circumstance,  which  kept  public  curiosity  long 
awake.  About  daybreak  the  body  of  the  Corregidor 
Quesada  was  found  near  one  of  the  corners  of  the  cathe- 
dral. He  w^as  lying  in  the  midst  of  a  pool  of  blood,  with 
a  wound  in  the  side,  evidently  given  with  great  earnest- 
ness, for  the  marks  of  the  guard  w^ere  deeply  impressed  on 
the  edge  of  the  wound,  and  many  of  the  spectators  seemed 
to  look  w^ith  jealousy  at  the  trace  of  the  handiwork  of  a 
person  who  was  master  of  his  business.  No  one  was 
aware  that  the  corregidor  had  any  personal  enemies,  but 
all  knew  that  he  had  declared  himself  to  be  an  enemy  of 
the  government.  For  some  days  the  body,  in  grand 
costume,  w^as  exposed,  as  is  the  custom  of  the  country,  to 
pubUc  view,  and  great  exertions  were  made,  but  in  vain, 
to  discover  the  assassin. 

"  A  short  time  afterw^ards,  an  event  not  less  strange 
occurred  at  Jalapa.  A  senator  generally  considered 
hostile  to  the  government,  was  poisoned  in  a  manner  not 
less  strange  than  Quesada  had  been  stabbed.     One  day 


DON    LUCAS   ALA MAN. 


ALAMAN.  267 

immediately  after  he  awoke,  this  senator  took  up  a  cigar 
which  lay  on  the  table  near  his  bed,  and  ringing  for  his 
valet'de-cliambre,  bade  him  bring  him  a  light.  The  Mexi- 
cans smoke  much  more  scientifically  than  any  other  peo- 
ple, and  never  think  of  lighting  a  cigar  with  a  blaze,  but 
always  from  living  coals,  which  are  kept  in  a  brazero, 
which,  in  this  instance,  was  of  silver.  Scarcely  had  he 
begun  to  smoke  when  he  was  seized  with  a  violent 
sneezing,  in  consequence  of  which,  in  a  short  time,  a 
haemorrhage  ensued,  of  which  he  died.  His  body  was 
examined,  and  it  appeared  that  the  nasal  passages  and 
brain  were  violently  inflamed,  that  the  cigar  must  have 
been  poisoned  and  killed  him,  as  described.  No  one 
could  tell  what  hand  had  placed  the  cigars  on  the  sena- 
tor's table,  and  the  appearance  of  his  servant,  when  he 
told  what  had  happened,  w^ould  have  convinced  the 
most  sceptical  that  he  was  guiltless  of  this  assassination 
of  his  master.  Who,  then,  was  guilty  ?  People  insisted 
on  connecting  together  these  two  inexphcable  murders, 
and  fancied  that  the  hand  which  drove  the  dagger  so 
deep  into  Quesada's  side,  was  the  one  which  had  placed 
the  cigars  on  the  senator's  table,  and  belonged  to  Don 
Lucas  Alaman. 

«  This  may  be,  and  probably  is,  all  calumny,  for  the 
story  of  the  poisoned  cigar  is  too  elaborate,  and  is  evi- 
dently copied  from  the  days  of  the  Borgia  and  La  Brin- 
villiers,  but  will  serve  to  show  the  estimate  put  on  the 
morals  of  Don  Lucas  Alaman,  whom  all  the  world  con- 
fessed to  be  a  true  patriot,  yet  who,  to  secure  the  good 
of  his  country,  would  not  hesitate  to  trample  in  the  dust, 
the  rights  of  its  citizens  and  of  itself,  with  a  courage 
which  is  the  more  heroic  as  it  neither  receives  the  re- 
ward of  public  approbation  nor  is  sustained  ])y  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  hope  of  fame." 


268         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

This  paragraph  of  comment  is  taken  from  the  same 
writer  who  records  the  anecdotes  which,  true  or  false, 
are  characteristic  of  what  was  considered  Alaman's 
character. 

Alaman  has  already  been  said  to  have  governed 
Mexico,  in  fact,  during  the  presidency  of  General  Guer- 
rero, but  at  that  time  had  given  little  evidence  of  the 
energy  he  afterwards  exhibited.  The  Mexican  people 
had,  however,  already  conceived  a  presentiment  that 
ere  long  a  firm  hand  would  hold  in  check  the  evil 
passions  which  then  under  the  impetus  of  the  absence 
of  government,  incident  to  the  revolution,  had  devastated 
their  country.  The  appearance  of  Alaman  certainly 
would  not  indicate  him  to  be  that  person.  His 
stature  is  low,  his  forehead  broad,  wide,  and  un- 
wrinkled.  His  hair  is  black  and  silky,  his  eyes  keen 
and  piercing,  and  his  complexion  certainly  would  not 
betoken  him  to  belong  to  the  Spanish  race,  but 
to  be  a  child  of  some  colder  climate  than  Mexico. 
One  w^ould  think  him  feeble,  irresolute,  and  indolent. 
In  doing  so  a  great  error  would  be  committed.  He 
is  possessed,  in  fact,  of  great  determination,  of  a 
moral  energy  capable  of  anything,  and  of  ceaseless  per- 
severance. His  activity  of  mind  prompts  him  to 
undertake  all  conceivable  schemes,  even  those  which 
would  be  thought  most  incompatible  vnih.  his  inclina- 
tions. He  is  said  to  speak  perfectly  well  French, 
Italian,  and  English,  and  what  is  yet  more  rare  among 
his  countrymen,  to  speak  pure  Spanish  and  to  write  it 
correctly. 

Alaman  is  a  mere  man  of  the  bureau,  and  therefore 
•it  is  that  he  has  never  been  able  to  participate  in  the 
realization  of  any  of  the  plans  he  has  dictated.  One 
thing  is  sure,  that  he  ever  maintained,  that  patriotism 


ALAMAN.  269 

justified  any  excesses,  and  that  whosoever  wills  the 
attainment  of  any  object,  approves  of  the  necessary 
means  to  accomphsh  his  wishes.  For  this  reason  his 
political  opponents  have  not  hesitated  to  accuse  him  of 
the  two  strange  assassinations  referred  to  above ;  while 
his  admirers  have  maintained  that,  in  pure  and  un- 
shrinking patriotism,  devotion  to  the  cause  of  human 
enlightenment,  and  farsight  into  the  tendency  of  the 
future,  he  has  had  an  equal  only  in  our  own  JeiTerson. 

Don  Lucas  Alaman  must  now  be  fifty-three  or  four 
years  of  age.  He  is  a  native  of  Guanajuato,  of  good 
family,  and  was  educated  at  the  college  of  La  Mineria. 
Those  who  knew  him  there,  say,  that  but  for  the  revo- 
lution, he  would  have  been  one  of  the  most  expert 
administr adores  of  mines  in  Mexico.  As  it  was,  he 
only  became  the  most  skilful  of  her  pohticians.  He 
entered  the  army  when  the  war  of  independence  broke 
out,  but  soon  discovered  he  had  no  talents  for  such 
scenes.  His  enemies  say  he  proved  himself  on  all  oc- 
casions to  be  a  most  arrant  coward.  He  soon  laid  aside 
his  sword  to  study  the  laws  of  his  country,  that  he 
might  participate  in  political  affairs.  His  political  career 
was  curious,  and  an  autobiography  from  him  would  be 
invaluable  as  a  sketch  of  men  and  things  in  Mexico  for 
the  last  thirty  years.  A  circumstance  especially  credit- 
able to  him  is,  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  Iturbide's 
plans,  but  immediately  after  his  deposition  became 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  a  post  he  occupied  when  the 
ex-emperor  returned  to  Soto  la  Marina,  in  1844.  The 
manner  of  Iturbide's  death  has  already  been  described. 
It  is  worth  while,  however,  to  state,  that  in  Mexico 
political  offences  have  almost  always  been  pardoned, 
except  when  Alaman  has  been  at  the  head  of  affairs,  by 
whom  they  have  been  severely  punished. 


270  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

After  he  retired  from  the  ministry,  he  visited  Europe, 
and  remained  there  for  a  long  time.  This  was  the  most 
promising  aspect  of  the  star  of  Mexico,  when  the  Eng- 
lish were  beginning  their  explorations  of  the  mines,  and 
when  the  United  Mexican  Mining  Company  originated. 
The  early  studies  of  Alaman,  and  his  intimate  know- 
ledge of  Mexico,  procured  for  him  the  position  of 
director,  with  magnificent  emoluments  of  office.  At  the 
same  time  he  became  administrador  of  the  Duca  di 
Monteleone,  a  noble  of  Sicily,  who,  as  the  representative 
of  Hernando  Cortes,  the  conqueror,  is  in  possession  of 
an  extensive  Mexican  territory  and  of  immense  wealth . 

While  in  England  he  became  thoroughly  imbued  with 
English  prejudices,  and  conceived  an  aversion  to  France 
and  America,  and  exhibited,  on  all  occasions  when  Mex- 
ico was  not  concerned,  the  greatest  predilection  in  favor 
of  England.  To  this  may  be  attributed  the  fact  that 
most  of  the  valuable  mines  of  Mexico  are  in  the  hands 
of  British  subjects,  and  the  patents  for  the  great  majo- 
rity \vill  be  found  to  date  from  Alaman's  subsequent 
administration. 

It  is  probable  that  when  he  returned  to  Mexico, 
Alaman  purposed  to  interfere  no  more  in  political  af- 
fairs ;  for  he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  many 
private  trusts  confided  to  himself.  The  administration 
of  Guerrero  was  overthrown  in  December,  1829,  when 
Bustamente  insisted  on  his  taking  office  under  him  as 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  an  honor  Alaman  sought 
to  decline  on  the  plea  of  his  many  engagements.  He 
however  accepted  it,  and  afforded  to  the  world  another 
example  of  the  ?iolo  episcopari,  which,  though  common 
to  Mexico,  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to  it. 

When  he  again  took  charge  of  the  administration  of 
the   government,  Mexico  was   in   a    strange   position. 


ALAMAN.  271 

But  one  year  previously  it  had  been  devastated  by  civil 
war,  and  almost  become  the  captive  of  the  bow  and 
spear  of  the  chque  that  sheltered  themselves  under  the 
cloak  of  Guerrero's  honesty.  Public  confidence  was 
not  restored ;  and  Guerrero  himself  was  still  in  arms  in 
the  south.  Santa  Anna  was  at  Mango  de  Clavo,  biding 
his  time.  Finances  were  exhausted,  and  all  classes  of 
the  army  were  calling  lustily  for  some  years  of  pay, 
while  the  treasury  was  empty.  Robbers  infested  the 
high-roads ;  and  more  than  once  magisterial  offices  were 
purchased  by  ladrones  with  money  obtained  by  red- 
handed  plunder.  The  custom-house  officers  were  part- 
ners in  smuggling  adventures  ;  and,  repeatedly,  alcal- 
des and  magistrates  were  proved  to  be  partners  of 
robber  bands.  The  people  were  taxed  beyond  all  en- 
durance, while  it  was  notorious  that  not  one-tenth  of  the 
revenue  collected  ever  reached  the  puplic  coffers. 

Smuggling  was  carried  on  on  the  broadest  scale. 
Ships  would  arrive  from  France,  England,  or  the  United 
States,  with  the  richest  and  most  costly  goods,  packed 
in  cases  side  by  side  with  coarse  cottons  or  other  articles 
of  little  value,  each  of  which  was  numbered  in  the  ma- 
nifest, 1,  2,  3,  4,  &c.  The  manifests  would  be  sent  at 
once  to  the  custom-house,  and  a  single  tide-waiter  be 
placed  on  board.  At  night  a  launch  was  put  off  from 
one  of  the  remote  quays  of  Vera  Cruz  unobserved, 
whether  the  night  were  bright  and  starlit  or  the  reverse, 
from  the  fact  that  no  one  passes  through  the  streets  of 
a  Mexican  city  after  the  posting  of  the  watch.  The 
cases  were  opened, — each  one  was  found  to  contain  two 
smaller  ones :  the  one  filled  with  costly  silks  and  duti- 
able articles,  the  other  with  articles  which  were  free. 
Morning  came ;  the  valuable  articles  were  on  shore,  and 
the  tide-waiter  watched  over  the  remains  of  the  cargo. 


272  MKXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

A  half  dozen  ounces  to  him,  and  a  rich  present  to  the 
commandanfe  of  Vera  Cruz,  made  all  right,  and  hushed 
any  suspicions  as  to  why  a  large  ship  should  be  sent 
across  the  Atlantic  with  a  few  hundred  dollars  worth 
of  goods. 

Such  a  state  of  things  obviously  rendered  it  impossi- 
ble for  the  government  to  meet  its  obligations,  and  its 
soldiers  necessarily  became  associates  of  highway  rob- 
bers. In  this  year,  1828,  a  German  gentleman  on  his 
way  to  the  South  Sea  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  some 
botanical  inquiries,  was  attacked  by  the  dragoTies  of  his 
escort,  and  only  escaped  from  the  fact  that  his  pistols 
being  new,  were  water-tight,  and  did  not  fail,  while  the 
dilapidated  fire-arms  of  the  Mexicans  could  not  be  dis- 
charged, in  a  slight  rain  which  chanced  to  be  falling. 
Every  road  leading  to  and  from  the  capital  was  infested 
by  robbers,  who  were  strong  enough  to  set  almost  any 
safeguard  at  defiance. 

"  Such  bands,"  says  a  writer  who  seems  to  under- 
stand Alaman  thoroughly,  "  may  almost  every  day 
be  met  with  in  the  arid  plains  of  Tepeyahualco,  so 
aptly  named  raal  pais,  in  the  fearful  gorges  of  Pinal, 
or  the  icy  woods  of  the  Rio  Frio.  They  are  all 
admirably  mounted,  and  seem  the  best  horsemen  in  the 
world.  With  their  faces  shaded  by  their  large  hats  and 
covered  with  handkerchiefs  which  permit  nothing  to  be 
seen  but  their  sparkling  eyes,  they  hold  in  one  hand  the 
deadly  lazo,  while  with  the  other  they  restrain  their  fiery 
steeds,  husbanding  their  energies  until  the  time  shall 
come  when  they  must  either  leap  a  precipice  to  escape, 
or  dash  forward  at  speed  to  strike  their  prey.  The 
lonely  traveller,  who  has  no  baggage  but  his  poncho  and 
lance,  may  pass  quietly  among  them,  exchanging  the 
amicable  buenas  diasy  as  if  he  were  under  the  protection 


ALAMAN.  273 

of  a  fortress  wall,  unless  he  should  look  so  closely  at 
them  as  to  indicate  any  recognition."  He  is  safe,  for 
they  are  on  the  alert  for  a  richer  prey,  and  have  not 
come  out  to  rob  a  beggar  of  his  cloak.  When  they  find 
their  prey,  if  resistance  is  made,  they  become  pitiless 
murderers.  If  not,  they  suffer  the  traveller  who  surren- 
ders to  pass  on  with  the  courteous  adios  cdballero,  or 
Dios  guarda  vmd.  (Good  day,  sir;  God  watch  over 
your  worship) ;  and  return  to  their  ranchos  to  play  with 
their  children,  and  it  may  be  to  give  the  alcalde  a  por- 
tion of  their  plunder. 

Such  people  are  not  to  be  judged  by  the  rules  of 
every-day  life,  having  been  corrupted  by  a  bad  govern- 
ment, which  defiles  all  things,  and  superinduces  a  for- 
getfulness  as  w^ell  of  the  laws  of  man  as  of  God  ;  and  a 
German  traveller,  referred  to  above,  who  is  familiar 
with  the  people,  states,  that  the  only  wonder  to  him  is, 
that  they  have  not  long  ago  dissolved  all  the  bonds  of 
society,  and  become  mere  savages  ;  and  attributes  their 
existence  as  a  nation  to  the  influence  of  the  younger 
clergy,  who,  grown  up  since  the  revolution,  see  that 
the  high  position  of  the  church  can  only  be  enjoyed 
while  the  body  politic  is  at  least  entire. 

Alaman  was  the  very  person  to  put  down  such  dis- 
orders ;  and  when  *he  found  the  power  to  do  so  in  his 
possession,  he  would  not  pause  for  the  many  obstacles 
which  would  have  terrified  a  man  of  less  moral  courage. 
When  once  enlisted  in  such  a  cause,  he  was  not  a  man 
to  draw  back. 

Alaman,  when  he  assumed  the  direction  of  foreign 
affairs,  resolved  to  make  financial  and  political  reform 
march  pari  passu,  and  to  make  the  second  contribute  to 
the  first.  The  most  obvious  means  to  be  adopted  was 
the  employment  of  honest  men,  with  ample  salaries. 
18 


274  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Such  was  the  apparent  corruption  of  the  community, 
that  it  was  by  no  means  easy  to  find  such  in  sufficient 
number,  and  he  had  to  Hmit  his  endeavors  in  a  great 
degree  to  repressing  the  peculation  of  such  as  he  was 
forced  to  keep.  By  this  means  smuggling  was  pre- 
vented, the  treasury  became  replenished  by  a  stream  of 
wealth  which  previously  had  been  exhausted  by  tide- 
waiters  and  collectors,  and  the  soldiers,  well  paid  and 
equipped,  were  really  what  they  were  intended  to  be, 
the  defenders  of  the  nation.  The  disbursements  did  not 
exceed  the  receipts,  and  the  treasury,  under  the  able 
Mangino,  was  able  to  meet  all  demands  on  it.  For 
the  first  time  since  the  revolution,  Mexico  had  a 
government. 

The  highway  robbers  shared  the  fate  of  the  pecu- 
lators in  public  office,  many  having  been  taken  by 
patrols  of  cavalry,  and  either  summarily  shot,  or  garro- 
teado,  to  encourage  the  others,  who  proceeded  to  hang 
up  their  bruised  armor  and  seek  subsistence  by  honest 
industry.  The  red  crosses  which  marked  the  place 
where  murders  had  been  committed,  one  after  the  other 
decayed,  and  no  newer  ones  replaced  them,  so  that  the 
roads  around  Mexico  were  as  safe  as  in  any  other  part 
of  the  world.  Alaman  said  that  he  would  not  stop  in 
this  career  until  he  could  lay  his  serape  on  the  plaza 
in  Mexico,  and  on  his  return  in  the  morning  find  i1 
untouched ;  and  but  for  interruptions  in  his  course 
he  could  not  foresee,  he  would  have  accomplished  it. 

There  yet  remained  to  be  chastised  the  disturbers  of 
public  peace,  and  for  them  the  punishment  was  death. 

Unfortunately,  however,  for  the  prosperity  of  Mexico, 
a  civilian  had  to  deal  with  men  of  the  sword,  and 
though  he  had  the  sinews  of  war  at  his  command,  the 


ALAMAN.  275 

polished  steel  often  more  than  balanced  gold  and  the 
interests  of  Mexico.  Santa  Anna  was  probably  in  his 
eye  constantly,  but  that  general  was  as  wily  as  Alaman, 
and  preferred  that  he  should  waste  himself  in  efforts 
against  other  eminent  men,  and  thus  prepare  an  open  field 
for  him,  than  to  measure  himself  against  an  adversary 
dangerous  as  he  was.  The  man  who  had  murdered  a 
senator,  would  no  doubt  strike  at  a  general,  and  therefore 
with  his  political  prudence  Santa  Anna  remained  at 
Mango  de  Clavo  in  perfect  quiet,  aware  that  the  long  arm 
of  Alaman  would  reach  him  even  amid  his  Jarochos. 
Guerrero  was  still  in  arms  in  the  south,  surrounded  by 
his  faithful  Pintos,  and  defied  all  efforts  against  him  and 
his  authority,  which  after  all  was  constitutional.  Fever 
and  the  climate  protected  the  latter  against  any  army 
which  could  be  marched  against  him,  and  recourse  was 
had  to  treason  to  obtain  possession  of  him. 

An  Italian  named  Picaluga,  a  native  of  Genoa,  at 
that  time  was  in  the  port  of  Acapulco,  the  head-quarters 
of  the  general.  This  man,  with  the  tact  peculiar  to  his 
countrymen,  contrived  to  insinuate  himself  in  the  confi- 
dence of  Guerrero,  who  was  frank  and  soldierlike  in  his 
bearing.  One  day  Guerrero,  who  detested  thefaste  and 
parade  of  which  most  Mexicans  seem  so  fond,  went  with- 
out any  suite  to  breakfast  with  Picaluga,  who  received  him 
with  the  greatest  apparent  cordiality.  The  general  was 
a  little  fond  of  good  wine,  and  after  a  hearty  meal  went 
on  deck  and  discovered  that  the  black-hearted  villain  had 
weighed  his  anchor  and  was  then  entering  a  neighboring 
port,  which  was  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy.  He 
was  at  once  overpowered  and  surrendered  to  the  officers 
of  the  government. 

A  form  of  trial  was  soon  gone  through  with,  and  on 
the  14th  of  February,  1831,  near  the  city  of  Oaxaca,  the 


276  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

general  was  shot.  It  is  said  that  at  the  place  of  execu- 
tion he  wept  bitterly.  He  had  in  defence  of  his  coun- 
try fought  so  bravely,  that  on  such  an  occasion  he  might 
give  vent  to  his  feelings,  and  weep  at  her  ingratitude. 
Public  opinion  attributes  this  act  to  Alaman  exclusively, 
and  he  is  also  suspected  of  having,  by  means  of  others, 
induced  the  gallant  Iturbide  to  return  to  Mexico  to  meet 
a  similar  fate.  Picaluga,  it  is  said,  received  for  this  foul 
treason  §50,000,  and  the  order  for  that  sum  is  now  pre- 
served in  the  treasury — an  authentic  autograph  of  Alaman. 
The  vessel  of  Picaluga,  commanded  by  another,  returned 
to  Genoa,  when  the  stor^'  was  told,  and  such  w^as  the 
universal  disgust  at  it,  that  his  name  was  blotted  from 
the  roll  of  Genoese  citizens,  and  became  in  Spanish  a 
term  to  express  one  dyed  in  the  deepest  villany.  Pica- 
luga afterwards,  it  is  said,  apostatized  from  Christianity, 
and  in  1840  was  in  the  service  of  a  Mahometan  prince. 
Two  other  chieftains  were  subsequently  taken  in  other 
parts  of  the  country  and  mercilessly  shot,  in  spite  of  the 
influence  of  their  friends ;  the  brother  of  one  of  them, 
Codallos,  was  governor  of  Mexico,  and  the  other,  Vic- 
toria, was  the  only  brother  of  Guadalupe  Victoria,  first 
president  of  Mexico.  This  much  good  and  evil  was 
effected  by  Alaman  during  1830  and  1831. 

Then  commenced  for  Mexico  a  new  era,  that  of 
manufacturing  industry,  its  resources  having  been  previ- 
ously merely  agricultural  and  pastoral.  Alaman  wished 
to  place  the  people  he  governed  on  a  level  with  those 
of  Europe,  and  this  was  his  great  motive  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  peace.  Nature  has  conferred  on  Mexico 
three  different  climates,  the  tropical,  temperate,  and  cold, 
(comparatively  speaking.)  It  has  also  given  to  these 
three  latitudes  inexhaustible  fertility,  a  cloudless  sky, 
and   mountain  ridges  from  the  summits  of  which  the 


ALAMAN.  277 

rains  bring  down  sands  of  gold,  where  silver  is  found 
everywhere,  and,  as  if  to  force  it  to  rely  on  its  own  indus- 
try, has  refused  to  it  only  navigable  rivers  and  good  ports. 
Its  topographical  peculiarities  are  such,  that  it  must  ever 
be  almost  impossible  to  contrive  any  system  of  railroads 
through  it;  in  a  word,  Mexico  is  deprived  of  that  facility 
of  communication  with  which  nature  recompenses  less 
favored  regions  for  the  curse  of  sterility.  The  question 
of  industry  is  then  more  vital  to  it  than  to  any  other  in 
the  world,  since  it  cannot  transport  its  raw  material  to 
the  shore  of  either  sea. 

At  the  instance  of  Alaman,  who  w^as  the  president 
of  the  council,  as  an  encouragement  to  industrial  under- 
takings, a  large  portion  of  the  customs  collected  was 
appropriated,  under  the  name  of  banco  de  avio,  bank  of 
succor,  to  be  loaned  to  persons  employed  in  manufac- 
turing enterprises  of  certain  kinds:  as,  cotton,  iron, 
silk,  wool,  and  paper.  Another  portion  was  expended 
in  machinery  purchased  in  Europe,  and  loaned  gratis  to 
manufacturers.  This  w^as  an  admirable  scheme,  worthy 
of  imitation  in  other  countries  boasting  of  a  more 
extended  civihzation ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that 
industry  received  a  new  impulse,  there  seemed  less  desire 
for  revolution,  and  the  roads  and  public  buildings  began 
to  exhibit  strong  evidence  of  the  fostering  care  of  a 
government.  Amid  all  this  prosperity,  however,  one 
man  contrived  to  disturb  this  promise,  at  the  very  time 
that  measures  were  being  taken  to  call  him  to  account 
for  his  past  misconduct.  Santa  Anna  had  remained 
quiet  as  long  as  Alaman  would  not  interfere  personally 
with  him  ;  but  having  learned  from  some  of  the  numerous 
agents  his  private  fortune  enabled  him  always  to  main- 
tain that  he  would  soon  be  arraigned,  he  pronounced 
against  Bustamente,  and   destroyed   the   influence   of 


278  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Alaman,  which  certainly  was  working  wonders  for 
Mexico  in  one  point  of  view,  while  it  is  equally  sure 
that  he  was  not  to  he  considered  a  model  either  of 
honor,  honesty,  or  obedience  to  the  behests  of  religion. 

On  this  occasion  Santa  Anna  acted  with  his  pecuhar 
decision  and  promptness.  He  called  around  him  his 
JarochoSf  induced  the  garrison  of  Vera  Cruz  to  revolt, 
and  seized  on  the  sum  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
which  had  been  collected  by  Alaman,  and  which  served 
to  ruin  him.  It  was  in  vain,  during  this  contest,  that 
Alaman  gave  his  generals  the  most  exact  orders,  money, 
and  disciplined  troops ;  they  were  unable  to  realize  the 
plans  he  had  conceived  in  his  bureau.  The  secretary  at 
war  took  the  command  of  the  army,  but  had  no  better 
success ;  and  Alaman  being  unable  to  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  troops  to  repair  their  errors,  Bustamente 
capitulated.  The  man  who  had  caused  Iturbide,  Guer- 
rero, Codallos,  and  Victoria  to  be  shot,  had  reason  to 
fear  a  similar  fate  for  himself,  for  a  similar  offence,  the 
failure  of  his  plans ;  and  disappeared  not  only  from  the 
political  but  the  social  world,  and  none  knew  where  he 
sheltered  himself. 

Fifteen  months  afterwards,  during  the  presidency  of 
Santa  Anna,  who  was  aware  of  all  the  details  of  Ala- 
man's  plans  against  him,  the  ex-minister  made  his  ap- 
pearance in  the  capital  as  mysteriously  as  he  had  left  it. 
All  that  ever  transpired  was,  that  becoming  frightened 
about  his  safety,  whether  with  reason  or  not,  Santa 
Anna  best  knew,  Alaman  had  sheltered  himself  amid 
the  inviolable  seclusion  of  a  convent.  In  this  retreat  he 
learned  to  restrain  his  political  enmities  and  ambition, 
and  his  secret  was  so  well  kept,  that  even  now,  when 
all  motive  for  it  is  lost,  the  seal  of  secrecy  has  never 
been  broken  as  to  what  altar  concealed  him.     He  was 


ALAMAN.  279 

completely  isolated  from  public  affairs  until  1837,  when, 
on  the  return  of  Bustamente  to  power,  he  began  gra- 
dually to  exert  his  power  and  influence  again.  At  the 
election,  which  resulted  in  favor  of  Bustamente,  Alaman 
obtained  the  next  largest  number  of  votes,  and  so  high 
was  his  reputation  for  capacity,  that  Bustamente  forgot 
all  feeling  of  jealousy,  and  confided  to  him  almost  all 
the  functions  of  government. 

The  central  constitution,  called  the  plan  of  Tagle 
from  the  name  of  the  person  by  whom  it  was  proposed, 
had  created  a  third  power  of  the  government,  called 
consejo  del  gobierno,  or  council  of  government,  and 
had  assigned  singular  powers  to  it.  This  body  was 
empowered  to  review  all  laws  passed  by  the  chambers, 
to  originate  decrees  itself,  and  its  consent  was  ne- 
cessary before  any  act  could  be  submitted  to  the  pre- 
sident ;  it  was  an  institution  like  the  English  star-chamber, 
and  the  Venitian  council  of  ten,  which  deliberated  in 
secret,  and  changed  a  democracy  into  an  oligarchy. 
The  presidency  of  this  body  was  offered  to  Alaman, 
who,  however,  objected  to  the  conspicuous  nature  of 
the  appointment  though  he  had  no  objection  to  the 
power.  The  post  was  therefore  conferred  on  General 
Moran,  an  invalid  in  whose  frequent  absence,  and  by 
the  influence  he  had  over  him,  Alaman  was  the  presi- 
dent de  facto.  Alaman  contrasted  in  his  mind  his 
present  position,  in  which  he  was  totally  irresponsible 
and  sheltered  by  the  secret  discussions,  with  the  state  of 
affairs  when  he  was  a  minister — he  could  but  congratu- 
late himself  on  the  change  which  permitted  him  to  do 
so  much  for  his  country  with  such  safety  to  himself 

This  state  of  things  did  not  last  long,  for  in  1840 
Alaman  was   again  living  in  a  private  station,  having 


280         MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

been  driven  from  power  by  the  dissolution  of  the  plan 
of  Tagle  on  the  deposition  of  Bustamente. 

When  Santa  Anna  a  second  time  regained  supreme 
authority-,  the  great  men  of  the  country  fled  from  it ; 
Farias  came  to  the  United  States,  and  Bustamente 
sought  to  forget  his  adversity  in  Genoa  and  Rome. 
Alaman,  aware  that  he  was  now  for  a  long  time  destined 
to  be  excluded  from  public  affairs,  resolved  to  realize 
for  his  own  advantage  some  of  the  benefits  he  sought 
to  confer  on  his  countrj'men  by  the  banco  de  avio.  He 
therefore  established  a  vast  cotton  manufactory  at  Ori- 
zaba, in  the  state  of  Vera  Cruz.  The  scheme,  however, 
was  scarcely  promising ;  the  competition  of  England  and 
the  United  States  being  sure  to  repress  such  enterprises 
in  Mexico,  where  labor  is  difficult  to  be  had,  and  cotton 
by  no  means  plenty — where  broken  machinery  must 
either  be  repaired  by  foreign  artisans,  or  sent  from  the 
country — and  last  of  all,  where  any  day  may  witness 
the  transformation  of  the  peaceful  warehouse  into  a 
barrack.  Smuggling  enterprises  also  could  be  under- 
taken under  the  administration  of  Santa  Anna,  encour- 
aged by  countless  harbors  unwatched,  the  absence  of 
any  marine  force,  and  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans  with 
its  boundless  supplies  ;  so  that  it  has  become  almost  to  be 
confessed,  in  spite  of  the  success  of  a  few  factories  at 
Jalapa,  that  no  similar  enterprise  can  prosper  near  the 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  administration  of  Santa  Aima  was  spendthrifl  as 
that  of  Alaman  had  been  careful ;  and  consequently  the 
manufacturers  everywhere  became  involved,  and  Ala- 
man was  forced  to  suspend  payment.  It  is  said  that 
he  failed  for  the  sura  of  81,200,000,  an  event  which 
created  consternation  throughout  Mexico.  His  painful 
situation  he  bore  with  sangfroid;  and  it  was  natural 


HERRERA.  281 

that  a  man  who  had  ordered  the  execution  of  an  em- 
peror, a  president,  and  countless  generals,  should  not 
shrink  from  having  caused  the  ruin  of  a  few  hundred 
operatives. 

Alaman  then  was  merely  the  administrador  of  the 
Duke  of  Monteleone,  and  though  Santa  Anna  was  aware 
if  he  had  fallen  into  his  hands  in  the  days  of  his  power, 
he  would  have  been  shot  summarily,  he  rather  protected 
him ;  and  not  unfrequently,  it  is  said,  consulted  him  in 
his  fiscal  difficulties  when  he  first  succeeded  to  power. 
In  1842  he  became  again  minister  of  foreign  affairs ; 
and,  strangely  enough,  men  who  but  a  few  years  before 
would  have  shot  each  other  without  compunction,  used 
to  embrace  most  cordially  when  they  met.  Alaman  was 
not,  however,  so  attached  to  Santa  Anna,  as  to  be  un- 
able to  console  himself  for  his  exile ;  and,  since  the  latter's 
return,  has  again  occupied  a  prominent  position.  There 
is,  it  is  said,  however,  but  little  doubt  that  Alaman  on 
the  first  opportunity  would  shoot  the  dictator  with  as 
little  compunction  now  as  he  would  have  done  during 
the  administration  of  Bustamente,  when  Guerrero,  Co- 
dallos  and  Victoria  fell. 

Don  Lucas  Alaman  was  a  member  of  the  general 
cortes  of  the  Spanish  empire  in  1820 ;  and  has  neyer 
been  in  favor  of  the  restoration  of  the  Spanish  system. 
He  has,  however,  always  been  opposed  to  democratic 
tendencies ;  and  has  been  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies 
of  the  United  States  in  Mexico. 

The  plan  proposed  in  the  preparation  of  this  book 
has  its  advantages,  but  in  many  respects  is  not  so  con- 
venient as  might  be  wished.  Its  greatest  disadvantage 
consists  in  the  fact  that  in  the  sketch  of  the  more  impor- 
tant individuals,  reference  to  others  is  made  so  frequently, 
that  when  we  touch  on  their  lives  the  material  is  ex- 


282         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

hausled,  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  repeat  or  to  give 
but  a  meagre  account  of  men  who  have  occupied  a  large 
space  of  public  attention.  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  General  Herrera.  In  the  sketches  of  General  Pare- 
des  and  of  Santa  Anna,  the  details  of  the  revolution  have 
been  given,  which  broke  out  in  Queretaro,  headed  by 
the  former,  the  consequence  of  which  was  the  destruc- 
tion of  Santa  Anna's  prospects,  and  the  reduction  of  one 
who  had  boasted  that  he  was  the  Napoleon  of  the  west, 
to  the  humble  state  of  a  suitor  for  life  and  safety  to  a 
congress  he  had  trampled  on  and  condemned.  The 
government  of  Herrera  w^as,  no  doubt,  correct,  and 
seemed  calculated  to  advance  the  great  interests  of  the 
country.  There  is  little  doubt  that  he  foresaw  the  con- 
sequences which  were  likely  to  result  to  Mexico  from  a 
war  with  the  United  States,  and  sought  by  conciliatory 
means  to  avert  it.  It  was,  however,  in  vain,  for  the 
whole  army  under  Paredes  pronounced  against  him,  and 
he  was  deposed  in  November,  1845. 

The  strongest  evidence  of  the  purity  of  Herrera's  con- 
duct in  this  case,  is  the  fact  that  the  pronunciamento 
against  him  was  purely  military,  and  a  conspicuous  part 
was  played  in  effecting  it  by  Arista.  The  consequence 
of  this  revolution  was  the  installation  of  Paredes  as  pre- 
sident, and  the  certainty  that  Santa  Anna  only  could 
restore  quiet.  No  sooner  was  Paredes  installed  than 
reports  arose  of  a  counter-revolution  by  Arista,  likely 
enough  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  events  which 
have  subsequently  occurred,  and  the  evident  coquetting 
of  Santa  Anna  and  Almonte. 

Paredes'  power  was  but  short  lived  ;  Santa  Anna  re- 
turned, and  Herrera  was  excluded  from  military  com- 
mand until  the  last  struggle  of  the  president  at  Cerro 


HERRERA.  283 

Gordo,  when,  with  La  Vega,  and  the  best  men  of  the 
Mexican  army,  he  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  entrench- 
ments from  which  Santa  Anna  fled.  He  was  there 
paroled  by  General  Scott,  and  returned  to  the  capital. 
His  military  career  is  therefore  over,  but  it  is  not  unlikely 
he  may  yet  be  called  to  serve  Mexico  in  some  civil  capa- 
city. The  avowed  reason  of  his  deposition,  after  the 
exile  of  Santa  Anna,  was,  that  he  was  suspected  of  wish- 
ing to  receive  the  American  minister  and  consenting  to 
the  final  relinquishment  of  Texas.  Should  he  be  installed, 
we  may  expect  the  same  course  to  be  advocated  by  him. 
General  Thompson  speaks  of  Herrera  as  a  man  con- 
fessedly of  high  character,  but  in  no  other  respect 
remarkable.  Madame  la  Barca  says  as  much.  Can 
there  be  higher  praise  in  Mexico,  where  some  strength 
of  mind  is  required  to  withstand  the  temptations  to  cor- 
ruption } 

There  are  other  eminent  men  in  Mexico,  of  a  reputa- 
tion scarcely  less  than  those  who  have  been  the  subjects 
of  this  book,  and  the  names  of  whom  have  frequently 
occurred.  A  minute  sketch  of  General  Bravo  and  of  Va- 
cia  would  no  doubt  throw  much  light  on  the  military 
history  of  Mexico,  while  a  life  of  Rejon  would  unfold 
much  of  the  tortuous  policy  which  has  been  so  peculiar 
to  that  country.  At  some  other  day  a  history  of  the 
events  that  produced  the  present  war  may  be  written, 
which  the  author  believes  will  expose  a  waste  of  the  bless- 
ings of  nature  in  a  manner  unprecedented  in  the  annals 
of  any  era,  or  any  degree  of  barbarism. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  City  and  Valley  of  Mexico — The  Church. 

If  we  may  believe  the  accounts  of  the  old  chroni- 
cler Bernal  Diaz,  who,  like  Sir  John  Mandeville,  wrote 
what  he  had  seen,  Mexico  at  the  time  of  the  conquest 
by  Cortes  was  a  western  Venice.  It  had  its  palaces 
and  gardens,  its  temples  and  market-places,  filled  with 
a  population  of  three  hundred  thousand  souls.  As 
Chevalier  aptly  says,  population  is  an  index  of  a  certain 
stage  of  civilization ;  but  it  must  be  remembered,  that 
the  age  when  Bernal  Diaz  wrote  was  that  when  all  the 
world  believed  the  stories  of  the  Great  Cham,  and 
when  the  King  of  the  Cannibal  Isles  was  devoutly  be- 
lieved to  exist.  Popular  tradition  told  of  the  existence 
of  an  island  where  demons  hovered  above  every  hill, 
and  pictured  the  prototype  of  Shakspeare's  Caliban  and 
Prospero  as  stern  realities.  While  Cortes  and  Pizarro 
were  waging  war  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  Gonsalvo  of 
Cordova,  in  Italy,  was  winning  laurels  at  the  head  of 
his  troops,  by  the  side  of  which  nothing  but  exagge- 
ration could  place  the  conquests  in  America. 

The  book  of  Bernal  Diaz  tells  of  vast  temples,  of 
costly  edifices,  and  of  all  the  comforts  of  private  life ; 
yet,  strange  to  say,  not  one  relic  of  those  times  has 
reached  us.  The  halls  of  Montezuma  have  left  no 
more  trace  than  the  palace  of  Aladdin,  and  of  all  the 
buildings  of  hewn  stone  that  Diaz  and  his  contemporaries 
and  immediate  successors  speak  of,  not  one  renmant 


■'='in||p|Bi^,Tp!fiiii|^^ 


I 
ii^illi 


!illMil!BI:ill| 


iliillii 


CITY    AND    VALLEY    OF   MEXICO.  285 

exists.  Yet  all  these  stories  tell  us  of  no  ruin  of 
Mexico,  but  would  induce  the  belief  that  the  people 
merely  changed  their  ruler ;  that  the  Aztecs  obeyed  a 
viceroy  of  Charles  V.,  instead  of  Montezuma. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  denied,  that  there  are  vast 
ruins  in  Mexico — pyramids  and  temples  that  speak  of 
a  highly  cultivated  race,  certainly  acquainted  with  the 
arts  of  civilization.  These  ruins  yet  remain,  and  the 
traveller,  when  he  gazes  on  them,  is  satisfied  he  looks 
on  the  wreck  of  a  cultivated  race,  whose  antiquity  is 
more  venerable  than  that  of  the  Pharaohs  or  Brah- 
minical  rulers.  It  no  more  follows,  however,  that  the 
Mexican  or  Aztec  races  were  the  authors  of  these, 
because  Europeans  found  them  beneath  their  shadows, 
than  that  the  colossal  remains  of  Egypt,  or  the  beau- 
tiful columns  of  Tadmor  and  Palmyra,  are  to  be 
attributed  to  the  Ishmaelite  or  Turk  who  rules  the 
country  where  they  are.  Near  the  Rock  River  in 
Michigan,  and  Chilicothe  in  Ohio,  are  vast  ruins,  which 
no  one  will  attribute  to  the  Shawnee  and  Wyandotte 
races,  but  which  bear  all  the  internal  evidences  of  a  culti- 
vation quite  equal  to  that  of  the  Aztec  and  Tlascalan. 
The  probability  is,  that  the  continent  had  been  ruled  by 
a  more  powerful  race,  possessed  of  a  civilization  of  its 
own,  with  which  the  Mexicans  had  no  more  to  do  than 
the  Iroquois  or  Sioux. 

It  is,  however,  ascertained,  that  at  the  time  of  the 
conquest,  Mexico  was  surrounded  by  the  waters  of  the 
lake ;  for  Cortes,  before  he  could  subdue  it,  was  com- 
pelled to  build  brigantines  of  burden  sufficient  to  sup- 
port the  shocks  of  heavy  ordnance.  The  Aztecs  fought 
long  and  well,  but  without  a  knowledge  of  the  use  of 
iron  they  gave  way  before  the  chivalry  of  Cortes.  The 
trenchant  steel  of  Toledo  shivered  the  weapons  of  vol- 


286  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

canic  glass  of  Montezuma's  and  Guatimozin's  array, 
and  the  conquest  soon  became  a  slaughter.  Positive 
proof  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  battles  oc- 
curred in  which  the  Spaniards  fought  from  sunrise  to 
sunset,  and  not  one  man  was  killed  in  their  ranks,  while 
hecatombs  of  Indians  fell.  Let  it  not  be  understood, 
that  any  effort  is  made  to  detract  from  the  credit  of  the 
conquistator,  whose  achievements  recall  to  us  the  Bible 
history  of  the  slaughter  of  the  hosts  of  Philistines  with 
the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass. 

The  tierras  calientes  and  templadas  of  Mexico  are 
both  a  succession  of  platforms  or  steps  which  termi- 
nate in  the  lofty  mountain  of  Popocatapetl.  On  the 
descent  from  the  brow  of  a  mountain  about  twenty- five 
miles  east  of  Mexico,  a  view  of  the  countless  towers 
and  domes  of  the  city  are  first  discovered.  Far  in  the 
distance  is  seen  the  snow  of  Popocatapetl  reflecting  the 
brilliancy  of  a  vertical  sun.  More  remote  is  seen  the 
brow  of  Iztaccihuatl.  The  valley  is  now  a  barren 
waste ;  for  the  canals  which,  rude  as  they  were  under 
the  last  Indian  princes  and  the  first  viceroys,  sufficed  to 
irrigate  the  land,  are  now  choked  up ;  and  the  lakes 
themselves  are  rapidly  disappearing.  Hundreds  of  vil- 
lages, which  they  tell  us  were  once  cities,  are  seen 
around  the  capital.  The  road  descends  the  western  de- 
clivity into  the  valley  of  the  lake  about  sixteen  miles 
from  Mexico,  passing  over  a  narrow  neck  of  land,  on 
one  side  of  which  are  the  salt  waters  of  Tezcuco,  and 
on  the  left  the  fresh  water  of  Chalco. 

The  cities  from  each  of  which  they  took  their  names 
have  now  disappeared,  and  even  the  acute  Mr.  Oldbuck 
would  find  difficulty  in  identifying  one  stone  of  their 
walls.  At  a  high  pinal,  or  cliff,  six  miles  from  the  city, 
the  traveller  first  meets  the  causeway,  and  sees  around 


CITY    AND    VALLEY    OF   MEXICO.  287 

him  a  new  sandy  soil,  partially  covered  with  water  from 
the  lakes  of  Tezcuco,  Chalco,  Hochimilco,  Zumpango, 
and  San  Christoval,  pointing  out  the  area  of  that  inland 
sea  from  which  Mexico  arose.  Forty  years  ago,  when 
Humboldt  wrote,  the  waters  were  supposed  to  cover 
one-tenth  of  the  valley,  which  now  in  the  rainy  season 
is  one  vast  marsh.  When  in  the  arid  months  of  sum- 
mer the  waters  subside,  the  surface  of  this  marsh  is 
covered  with  coarse  salt,  generally  used  in  all  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

The  city  of  Mexico  is  in  the  north-western  part  of 
this  valley,  about  three  miles  from  the  village  of  Guada- 
lupe, of  which  more  anon.  The  valley  itself  is  a  vast 
oval  basin,  surrounded  by  mountains  and  cliffs  of  vari- 
ous heights,  from  those  of  but  a  hundred  feet  in  height, 
to  Popocatapetl,  with  its  ever  burning  fires  and  eternal 
snows,  lifted  more  than  ten  thousand  feet  above  the 
loftiest  domes  of  the  city.  On  the  road  from  Vera  Cruz 
are  a  few  low  hills  of  volcanic  origin,  but  everywhere 
else  the  valley  is  one  vast  plain.  It  is  a  usual  thing  to 
attribute  to  the  disappearance  of  the  lake  the  sterility  of 
the  country,  and  to  the  choking  of  the  canals,  which  were 
but  amphfications  of  the  natural  water-courses.  But 
need  we  look  further  than  the  still-burning  summits  of 
Iztaccihuatl  and  Popocatapetl,  the  countless  extin- 
guished craters,  for  a  reason  why  the  waters  have  parti- 
ally disappeared?  The  Mexican  nation  is  sufficiently 
impotent,  and  feeble  enough,  and  inflicts  evil  enough  on 
the  beautiful  country  it  occupies,  without  our  attributing 
to  it  things  dictated  by  a  higher  providence  and  more 
august  wisdom  than  mortality  can  comprehend.  The 
soil  is  now  uncultivated,  yet  yields  a  copious  return  for 
the  sweat  expended  on  it.  Wheat,  corn,  and  vegeta- 
bles are  produced  in  great  abundance,  and  the  agave 


288  MRXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Mexicana,  that  plant  which,  like  the  cocoa-nut  in  the 
South  Sea,  is  bread,  apparel  and  drink,  are  produced  in 
great  plenty,  while  countless  herds  roam  over  the  ex- 
panse unchecked,  as  are  their  fellows  in  the  newest 
countr}'  of  this  continent,  the  prairie  of  New  Mexico,  or 
in  the  venerable  campagna  di  Roma^  the  classic  land  of 
Europe.  The  city  of  Mexico,  however,  does  not 
receive  its  supplies  from  this  plain,  which  is  so  peculi- 
arly endowed  that  every  product  of  every  land  would 
grow  there  in  rich  abundance.  Vegetables  of  all  kinds 
are  brought  either  on  the  backs  of  Indians,  or  in  panniers 
on  asses,  from  beyond  the  valley ;  wagons  being  used 
exclusively  by  the  mining  companies.  On  asses,  too, 
are  borne  to  the  city  the  freights  disgorged  by  the  many 
vessels  at  Vera  Cruz.  French  clocks,  jewelry,  velvets, 
hats,  and  European  wines,  all  are  thus  transported  to 
the  capital,  and  thence  diffused  over  the  whole  republic 
in  a  similar  manner.  At  Monclova  and  in  the  secluded 
towns  of  Sinaloa,  clocks  are  seen  with  alabaster  columns 
transported  in  this  manner ;  and  Brequet  returns  his 
lepine  watches  on  the  backs  of  mules,  not  unfrequently 
to  the  employees  of  the  very  mines  whence  the  gold  of 
which  they  were  made  was  taken. 

The  entrance  from  the  north  and  west  into  the  city 
of  Mexico,  does  not  greatly  differ  from  the  route  to  Vera 
Cruz,  except  that  the  roads  are  worse  and  more  lonely, 
and  the  posadas  or  inns  fewer  and  worse  in  quality. 
Here  and  there  are  strewn  miserable  Indian  hamlets, 
with  wretched  half-starved  inmates,  whom  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  believe  are  the  descendants  of  the  polished  races 
whom  Cortes  and  Bernal  Diaz  have  described.  It  is 
possible  they  are  not ;  for  north,  in  the  mountains  of  Santa 
Fe,  are  a  race,  who  boast  that  when  all  was  lost,  they 
emigrated  northward  as  their  fathers  had  come  south, 


CITY    AND    VALLEY    OF    MEXICO.  289 

and  amid  the  inaccessible  hills  found  safety.  In  the 
dark  caves  of  these  hills  they  still  keep  up  a  belief  in 
the  milder  divinities  of  Aztec  mythology,  humanized, 
but  similar  to  that  which  Montezuma  entertained. 

Mexico  is,  beyond  a  doubt,  the  most  magnificent  city 
on  the  American  continent,  and  contains  more  rich  and 
beautiful  buildings  than  any  other.  As  has  already  been 
said,  it  contains  not  one  remnant  of  the  old  race  who 
began  the  city,  but  is  instinct  with  the  taste  which  pro- 
moted the  erection  of  the  monuments  of  the  cities  of  the 
peninsula,  the  majority  of  which  were  built  when  the  arts, 
revived  by  the  Medici,  were  extending  themselves  over 
the  world.  The  houses  in  the  principal  streets  are  built 
in  the  pufest  taste,  and  many  of  the  most  splendid  are 
even  now  owned  by  the  descendant  of  Cortes,  the  Duke 
of  Monteleone.  The  plaza  grande  is  a  vast  area,  paved 
with  stone,  with  the  cathedral  on  one  side  and  on  the 
opposite  a  row  of  fine  houses,  with  projecting  balconies. 
On  one  of  the  other  side  is  the  palacio  nacional,  the  old 
vice-regal  dweUing,  built  on  the  site  of  the  far-famed 
halls  of  the  Montezumas.  This  building  is  utterly  taste- 
less, a  vast  mass  of  stone  and  mortar,  with  small  win- 
dows, and  badly  arranged.  The  president  occupies  but 
a  small  portion  of  this  building,  in  which  are  the  halls 
of  the  senate  and  deputies,  and  the  bureaus  of  the  various 
ministers.  At  the  end  of  a  dark  passage  is  a  massive 
door  opening  into  a  court  called  the  botanical  garden, 
in  which  are  a  few  stinted  trees,  among  which,  however, 
is  the  strange  manita  tree,  but  one  other  of  which  species 
is  known  to  exist,  and  which  is  curious  from  bearing 
a  blossom  resembling  the  human  hand.  Mr.  Thomp- 
son, Madame  Calderon,  Gilliam,  the  French  and  Ger- 
man travellers,  all  unite  in  one  account,  which  all  who 
have  seen  it  will  endorse,  that  it  looks  more  like  a  niin- 
19 


290  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

ous  barrack  or  deserted  factory  than  the  home  of  the 
chief  magistrate  of  one  of  the  great  divisions  of  the  world. 
The  cathedral  has  no  equal  in  North  America,  and  is  built 
in  the  florid  Gothic  style  which  the  Spaniards  have  always 
been  so  fond  of.  It  too  is  historical,  and  stands  on  the 
site  of  the  temple  of  one  of  the  Mexican  blood-stained 
divinities,  Almitzotli.     The  walls  are  of  solid  stone. 

The  wealth  of  our  own  country  is  inadequate  to 
give  any  idea  of  the  splendor  of  its  interior,  filled  with 
paintings  and  statues.  On  entering  the  building  the 
eye  is  attracted  to  the  high  altar  of  solid  silver,  its  mas- 
sive candelabra  of  gold,  and  a  balustrade  extending  on 
each  side  of  it,  cast  from  a  metal  of  the  color  of  gold, 
the  component  parts  of  which  are  copper,  silver,  and 
brass,  in  such  proportions  that  it  is  worth  far  more  than 
its  weight  in  silver.  The  separate  pieces  of  which  it  is 
formed  are  four  feet  high,  and  several  inches  thick ;  and 
its  whole  length  is  three  hundred  feet.  Several  years  ago 
a  silver  smith  of  Mexico  offered  to  replace  it  with  a  railing 
of  the  same  form  and  weight  in  solid  silver,  and  to  pay 
into  the  fund  of  the  cathedral  §500,000  besides. 

On  every  side  are  smaller  chapels  richly  decorated, 
where  all  the  utensils  are  silver,  besides  vast  store-rooms 
filled  with  plate,  rarely  or  never  produced,  but  there  in 
its  sterling  value. 

This  seems  exaggeration,  and  recalls  to  our  minds 
things  we  have  dreamed  of  in  childhood,  but  never  real- 
ized as  existing ;  and  whether  Cortes  deceived  the  em- 
peror Charles  V.  in  his  account  of  Montezuma's  wealth, 
matters  not,  for  the  viceroys  realized  all  his  promises. 

Here  also  is  the  calendar  of  Montezuma,  a  round 
stone  inserted  in  the  w^all,  covered  with  hieroglyphics  of 
that  mysterious  kind,  so  far  even  more  impenetrable 
than  the  mystic  writing  of  the  obelisks  of  Egypt.     On 


CITY    AND    VALLEY    OF   MEXICO.  291 

the  great  plaza  there  was,  in  1844,  a  column  being 
erected  surmounted  by  a  figure  of  Liberty,  in  commemo- 
ration of  Mexican  independence. 

The  square  of  the  cathedral  is  not  the  only  beauti- 
ful public  place  in  Mexico.  The  Alameda,  in  all  the 
elements  of  physical  beauty,  will  compare  with  any 
public  walk  in  Europe,  not  excepting  the  parks  of  Lon- 
don and  the  Prado  of  Vienna.  The  beautiful  paseo  of 
Havana  cannot  compare  with  this  luxurious  spot,  redo- 
lent with  the  shrubs  and  flowers  of  which  nature  has 
been  so  prodigal  in  Mexico.  Leading  to  the  Alameda, 
is  the  noble  street  of  St.  Francis,  with  its  rich  edifices, 
not  the  least  interesting  of  which  is  the  palace  of  Itur- 
bide,  both  on  account  of  the  richness  of  its  architecture 
and  the  associations  connected  with  it.  There  are  other 
interesting  buildings  in  Mexico,  the  most  prominent  of 
which  are  the  convents  of  La  Profesa,  of  St.  Augustin, 
and  San  Francisco,  of  vast  wealth  and  great  influence, 
the  colleges  of  Biscay  and  La  Mineria,  and  hosts  of 
others. 

In  the  university  is  much  that  is  attractive,  not  the 
least  of  which  is  the  equestrian  statue  of  Charles  IV.  by 
Tolsa,  a  native  artist,  who  has  left  behind  him  works  in 
bronze,  worthy  of  the  artists  of  the  best  days  of  Italy.  It 
also  contains  the  sacrificial  stone,  from  the  great  Teocalli 
of  the  Aztec  days.  The  palaces  of  Cortina,  of  Regla,  of 
Count  Beneski,  the  friend  of  Iturbide,  and  multitudes  of 
other  splendid  residences,  will  compare  with  the  private 
dwellings  of  most  cities,  but  unfortunately  in  close  proxi- 
mity are  the  hovels  of  the  miserable  leperos,  so  wretched, 
that  at  the  contrast  we  can  but  exclaim,  "  Can  these  be  thy 
children,  oh  Mexico,  and  the  fellow-citizens  of  those?" 

The  first  singularity  which  attracts  attention  in  Mex- 
ico, however,  is  the  character  of  the  people  in  the  street ; 


292  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

priests  and  friars  in  their  strange  garbs,  canonigos  in 
their  immense  hats,  mihtary  men  in  brilliant  uniforms, 
and  Indians  and  leperos  in  the  costume  chance  offers 
them.  Naples  with  its  lazzaroni,  Calcutta  with  its 
hordes  of  pariahs,  St.  Giles  in  London  with  all  its 
abominations,  are  decent  in  comparison  with  the  place 
of  assemblage  of  these  wretches — the  lame,  halt,  and 
the  cripple,  the  maimed  soldier  and  disabled  robber,  the 
victim  of  leprosy.  Words  cannot  express  the  horror 
of  the  scenes  to  be  met  with  in  the  streets,  and  which 
strike  with  equal  disgust  the  soldier  who  has  served  on 
the  battle-fields  of  Europe,  and  the  scientific  naturalist, 
who  wonders  how  a  land  so  blessed  by  nature  can  be 
suffered  by  God  to  be  so  deformed  with  crime. 
Madame  Calderon  records  having  met  with  beggars 
everywhere — in  her  private  house,  in  the  Alameda, 
in  the  very  temple.  Everywhere,  and  amid  wealth 
beside  which  that  of  the  Califs  becomes  insignificant, 
is  heard  the  cry,  Caridad  por  el  nombre  de  Jesus ;  una 
7iiedia  por  los  santos.  If  these  be  the  consequences  of  all 
the  gold  and  silver  of  Mexico,  if  its  wealth  be  not  able  to 
prevent  them,  far  better  were  it  if  the  land,  doomed  to 
absolute  sterility,  should  force  its  children  to  starve  or 
live  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows. 

The  strongest  argument  to  justify  the  occupation  of 
America  by  the  Europeans,  has  ever  been,  that  God 
never  intended  so  fair  a  land  to  be  occupied  by  howling 
savages;  and  if  this  be  true,  what  inference  may  we 
draw  from  the  present  condition  of  Mexico  ? 

In  any  account  of  Mexico,  however,  in  which  the 
church  was  omitted,  an  inexcusable  oversight  would  be 
made.  It  is  an  important  element  of  the  Mexican  social 
system,  and  many  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  is  the 
government.     When  Cortes  conquered  Mexico,  he  was 


THE    CHUHCH.  293 

under  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  loyalty  and  military 
obedience  not  more  than  of  the  fervor  of  the  crusader. 
He  devoutly  believed  that  he  was  conquering  a  king- 
dom for  his  earthly  master,  beside  v^rhich  the  crowns 
of  Castile  and  Aragon  become  insignificant,  and  for  his 
God  the  souls  of  generations,  other\\dse  doomed,  ac- 
cording to  the  harsh  theology  of  the  age,  to  intermi- 
nable perdition.  Everywhere  we  see  the  traces  of  this 
spirit,  from  the  day  when  he  threw  down  the  idols 
from  their  pedestals,  to  the  great  conflagration  of 
Mexican  and  Tezcucan  manuscripts  by  the  Spanish 
Arab,  Juan  de  Zummoraga,  first  archbishop  of  Mexico, 
in  the  great  market-place.  The  consequence  was,  that 
vast  sums  were  appropriated  to  the  priesthood,  and 
more  than  an  ecclesiastical  tithe  of  the  fruits  of  the 
conquest  was  appropriated  to  the  honor  of  religion. 
The  course  of  the  early  missionaries  was  strange  :  we 
read  of  baptisms  which  recall  to  us  the  conversions  of 
apostolic  days ;  of  thousands  made,  in  the  words  of  the 
old  chroniclers,  "  children  of  Christ  from  priests  of  the 
devil."  The  vast  wealth  of  the  Aztec  priests  was 
appropriated  to  their  successors,  and  the  endowments 
of  the  richest  days  of  the  old  church,  "  when  pontiffs 
placed  their  sandalled  feet  on  the  necks  of  mailed 
kings,"  were  exceeded  by  this  its  youngest  conquest. 

The  riches  thus  acquired  by  the  church  have  per- 
petually been  increased  by  endowments  and  bequests. 
Scarcely  a  will  is  made  in  Mexico,  that  does  not  con- 
tain a  clause  in  favor  of  some  shrine  or  ecclesiastical 
corporation  ;  and  the  plate  in  its  convents,  like  that  of 
the  mess  of  a  European  regiment,  is  of  so  many  pat- 
terns and  such  various  forms,  that  it  would  seem  to 
have  been  gathered  from  the  sacking  of  a  hundred 
cities. 


294  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

There  is  a  selfishness  about  the  Mexican  church 
which  is  strange  indeed,  and  finds  a  parallel  nowhere 
else.  In  England,  when  Richard  I.  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  archduke  of  Austria,  the  abbeys  and  convents 
brought  their  plate  to  ransom  their  monarch ;  in  the  wars 
of  the  league,  the  mitred  princes  and  bishops  contri- 
buted to  support  their  army,  and  during  the  invasion  of 
the  Peninsula  by  the  orders  of  Napoleon,  the  ecclesias- 
tics were  foremost  in  their  contributions.  This,  how- 
ever, has  never  been  the  case  in  Mexico.  In  all  the 
wars  which  have  occurred  the  church  has  not  contri- 
buted one  media,  and  now,  while  the  stranger  is  a  mas- 
ter in  her  cities,  and  an  enemy's  foot  presses  the  senti- 
nel's walk  on  her  ramparts,  the  church  and  its  dignitaries 
yet  refuse  to  pay  one  farthing  to  defend  their  altars  and 
their  flocks.  No  president  except  Gomez  Farias  has 
ever  dared  to  advocate  the  confiscation  of  one  cent  of 
the  ecclesiastical  property,  and  on  three  occasions  that 
he  has  sought  to  effect  such  a  reform,  he  has  been  driven 
from  power.  Mr.  Thompson  says  that  a  small  sum  has 
been  realized  by  the  sale  of  the  property  of  the  Jesuits, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  the  church  itself  first  cast 
them  from  its  bosom.  The  general  impression,  and  those 
who  have  had  an  opportunity  of  judging,  say  it  by  no 
means  exaggerates  the  fact,  is  that  one-third  of  the  real 
property  of  Mexico  is  in  the  hands  of  the  church,  not 
counting  a  vast  amount  of  money  invested  in  mortgages 
on  the  remainder. 

No  college  of  theologians  in  the  world  would  call  the 
Mexican  church  orthodox.  The  ceremonies  are  certainly 
those  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  but  even  in  the 
minds  of  the  priesthood  are  engrafted  such  a  host  of 
Aztec  superstitions,  that  it  may  even  now  be  doubted  if 
the  mass  of  the  people  merit  the  name  of  Christian  more 


THE    CHURCH.  295 

than  do  the  Abyssinian s,  or  the  few  worshippers  found  by 
the  Portuguese  in  the  fourteenth  century  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Goa,  in  India.  Worshipping  at  the  shrines  of 
the  saints,  a  vast  portion  of  the  Indian  population  beheve 
impHcitly  that  some  day  Montezuma  will  return  to  rule 
his  people  and  restore  the  glory  of  his  realm.  Even 
now^,  on  the  pyramid  of  Cholula  is  a  chapel  dedicated  to 
the  Virgin,  attended  by  a  lowly  and  sincere  Indian  monk, 
who,  as  he  points  out  to  the  traveller  the  traces  of  the 
ruins  around  him,  gives  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  is 
not  without  faith  in  the  gods  of  the  ancient  Teocalli, 
which  his  altar  has  replaced. 

From  all  America  it  is  believed  that  the  Catholic 
church  has  admitted  into  her  calendar  but  three  saints. 
St.  Tammany,  from  Canada ;  St.  Rosa,  from  Lima,  in 
Peru ;  and  one  other  from  Mexico,  the  name  of  whom  es- 
capes us,  and  scarcely  one  of  the  many  miracles  said  to 
have  occurred,  have  stood  the  test  to  which  the  autho- 
rities of  Rome  have  subjected  them.  This  circumstance 
does  not,  how^ever,  prevent  the  every-day  occurrence  of 
a  new  beatification  and  the  admission  into  the  faith  of 
Mexico  of  countless  new  candidates  for  veneration, 
from  many  of  whom  the  church  derives  a  great  portion 
of  its  wealth.  The  two  most  striking  instances  of  this 
fact  are  the  tw^o  following. 

On  the  8th  of  December,  1531,  a  poor  and  humble 
Indian,  whose  name  was  Juan  Diego,  sate  on  a  rock, 
on  the  summit  of  Tepeya.  Having  sunk  to  sleep,  he 
saw  in  a  vision  the  Blessed  Virgin,  who  bade  him  go  to 
Mexico  and  command  the  archbishop  to  build  a  chapel 
where  she  then  stood.  The  Indian  went  immediately 
to  the  city  ;  but  being  refused  admission  into  the  archi- 
episcopal  palace,  returned  the  next  day  to  the  lonely 
rock,  w^here  the  Mother  of  God  again  appeared  to  him. 


1 


296  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

She  bade  hiin  immediately  return  and  insist  on  the  at- 
tention of  the  bishop.  Diego  did  so,  but  was  not 
more  successful ;  and  when  he  returned  asked  from  the 
Virgin  some  token  that  what  he  said  was  true.  At  the 
command  of  the  holy  Mary,  he  went  out  on  the  moun- 
tain, and  gathered  a  handful  of  roses  from  a  barren 
rock  that  neither  before  or  since  has  nourished  vegeta- 
tion. The  Virgin  blessed  the  flowers,  and  threw  them 
on  the  cloak  of  Diego,  and  bade  him  take  them  to  the 
bishop.  Diego  obeyed  ;  he  met  the  bishop  at  the  gate 
of  the  palace,  unfolded  his  serape,  and  exhibited  to  him 
not  only  the  mountain  flowers  but  a  portrait  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  The  archbishop  was  convinced,  called 
the  image  on  the  cloak  the  Blessed  Virgin  of  Guada- 
lupe, and  ordered  a  beautiful  church  to  be  built  where 
the  Mother  of  God  appeared  to  the  lonely  Indian. 

That  chapel  now  stands,  and  is  a  spot  of  pilgrimage 
from  all  parts  of  Mexico.  The  shrine  is  as  rich  as  any 
in  the  world,  and  the  Indian's  cloak  now  hangs  in  a  case 
of  gold  amid  a  \\'ilderness  of  candelabra  of  the  same 
metal,  worshipped  by  the  faithful.  On  the  festival  day  of 
the  Virgin  of  Guadalupe,  all  Mexico  rushes  to  its  shrine, 
and  the  long  causeway  of  the  Aztec  metropolis  is 
thronged  with  persons  of  ever)-  grade.  Mr.  Gilliam,  an 
intelligent  traveller,  saw  there  in  1843  the  President 
Canaliza  and  all  his  cabinet,  ecclesiastics  of  high  rank, 
ladrones  and  leperos,  all  come  to  worship  at  the  wonder- 
ful altar.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  to  the  well  in- 
formed reader,  that  this  is  one  of  the  miracles  of  the 
church  of  Mexico,  altogether  unrecognised  by  the 
authorities  of  Rome. 

Next  in  the  veneration  of  the  present  Mexican  peo- 
ple to  the  Lady  of  Guadalupe,  is  our  lady  De  Los 
Remedios — the  origin  of  the  worship  of  whom  is  not 


THE    CHURCH.  297 

less  strange.  Cortes,  the  conqueror  of  Montezuma, 
was  originally  ordered  to  Mexico  by  Velasquez,  the 
governor  of  Cuba,  who,  soon  becoming  jealous  of  him, 
revoked  his  commission  before  he  had  left  the  island. 
In  this  little  episode  of  Cortes's  life,  we  see  the  traces 
of  all  the  events  of  the  revolution  and  of  the  intellectual 
vivacity  he  afterwards  displayed.  El  Conquistador  was 
the  last  man  in  the  world  to  exchange  for  a  prison  the  pri- 
vileges of  an  independent  command,  and  therefore  boldly 
set  sail  in  defiance  of  Velasquez's  orders.  The  success  of 
Cortes  was  soon  related  in  Cuba,  and  an  expedition  under 
Narvaez  was  sent  to  dispossess  him  of  his  conquest,  which 
rendered  it  obligatory  on  him  to  confide  the  garrison  of 
Mexico  to  his  subordinate,  and  to  march  to  overpower 
Narvaez  in  person.  How  he  did  so  is  a  matter  of  his- 
tory. On  his  return  he  found  yet  a  new  danger  to  be 
confronted.  Alvarado  had  outraged  the  inhabitants,  and 
Cortes  found  the  whole  nation  in  arms  and  was  obliged 
to  retreat.  This  he  determined  to  do  across  the 
causeway  of  Tacuba,  along  which,  amid  the  darkness 
of  la  noche  triste,  he  cut  his  way  to  a  lonely  hill,  about 
twelve  miles  from  Mexico,  where  he  fortified  himself. 

In  this  sad  retreat  he  had  lost  the  flower  of  his  army, 
and  the  remnant  was  dispirited  and  mutinous.  It  was 
one  of  those  conjunctures,  when  the  lion's  skin  having 
failed,  recourse  was  to  be  had  to  the  fox's,  and  by  a 
daring  imposture  Cortes  contrived  to  reanimate  his 
army.  One  of  his  soldiers  had  brought  far  off  from 
Castile  a  little  image  of  the  Virgin  in  alabaster,  it  is  not 
unlikely  some  memento  of  the  friends  he  had  left  at 
home.  In  the  lonely  hours  of  the  camp  Cortes  had 
seen  it,  and  determined  to  have  recourse  to  it,  to  effect 
the  restoration  of  the  morale  of  his  men.  The  soldiers 
of  Spain   in  America  at  that  age,  were  crusaders  in 


298  MEXICO    AND    HER   MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

spirit,  and  prepared  to  believe  his  story,  that  it  had  fallen 
from  heaven  and  had  brought  a  promise  from  on  high, 
that  all  their  troubles  would  be  miraculously  healed, 
and  that  they  would  be  brought  back  in  triumph  to 
Mexico.  The  stout  hearts  of  his  men-at-arms  accom- 
plished this,  and  the  merit  w^as  attributed  to  la  santisima 
Virgen  de  los  Remedios. 

When  his  triumph  was  secure.  El  Conquistador 
erected  a  chapel  on  the  hill  on  which  he  had  encamped 
after  la  noche  triste,  in  which  was  placed  the  wonderful 
image.  There  it  has  remained  for  three  hundred  years 
in  a  magnificent  shrine,  attended  on  by  nuns.  It  is  now 
one  of  the  richest  shrines  in  Mexico,  and  in  seasons  of 
plague,  pestilence,  and  famine,  the  image  is  borne  in 
procession  through  the  streets  of  the  neighboring  capital, 
with  a  devout  faith  that  by  the  intercession  of  the  miracu- 
lous image,  all  evil  will  be  arrested.  This  occurred  but 
a  few  years  since,  on  the  occasion  of  the  illness  of  the 
first  wife  of  Santa  Anna,  when  a  grand  procession  took 
place,  and  all  that  was  distinguished  in  Mexico,  gene- 
rals, statesmen,  and  ecclesiastics,  followed  the  miracu- 
lous image. 

The  manner  in  which  the  cathedral  at  Puebla  was 
built,  the  devout  belief  entertained  that  the  angels  of 
heaven  came  by  night  to  work  at  its  walls,  and  a  hun- 
dred other  superstitions,  are  all  received  in  Mexico,  by 
not  only  the  mass,  but  by  many  of  the  most  enlightened 
classes,  and  go  to  show,  that  if  the  religion  of  Mexico  is 
not  Protestant,  it  is  surely  not  Roman  CathoHc. 

At  the  head,  however,  of  this  vast  ecclesiastical 
establishment,  is  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  with  seven 
suffragans.  At  the  time  of  the  revolution,  Don  Pedro 
Fonte  withdrew  from  Mexico  with  many  of  his  bishops, 
and  resided  in  Spain  until  the  time  of  his  death,  during 


THE    CHURCH.  299 

which  time  their  benefices,  estimated  as  being  worth 
$371,148,  were  sequestered  by  the  government.  The 
present  incumbent,  the  Doctor  Posada,  is  one  who  has  won 
golden  opinions  from  all,  and  who  by  his  benevolence  and 
humanity  merits- them.  "  JYo  es  dios  el  Sewor  Posada,^^ 
said  a  Mexican  gentleman,  several  years  since,  to  the 
writer  of  this  book,  '-^pero  un  hombre  muy  huenoy  It 
may  be  worth  while  here  to  compare  the  statements  of 
two  travellers  who  have  very  little  sympathy  for  each 
other — Mr.  Thompson  and  Madame  Calderon  de  la 
Barca — and  see  how  they  agree  in  the  praise  of  the  arch- 
bishop.    The  latter  says : 

"  Were  I  to  choose  a  situation  here,  it  would  un- 
doubtedly be  that  of  archbishop  of  Mexico,  the  most 
enviable  in  the  world  to  those  who  would  enjoy  a 
life  of  tranquillity,  ease,  and  universal  adoration.  He 
is  a  Pope  without  the  trouble,  or  a  tenth  part  of 
the  responsibility.  He  is  venerated  more  than  th^e 
Holy  Father  is  in  enlightened  Rome,  and  like  kings 
in  'the  good  old  -times,  can  do  no  wrong.  His  salary 
amounts  to  about  one  hundred, thousand  dollars,  and  a 
revenue  might  be  made  by  the  sweetmeats  alone  which 
are  sent  him  from  all  the  nuns  in  the  republic.  His 
palace  in  town,  his  w^ll-cushioned  carriage,  well-con- 
ditioned horses  and  sleek  mules,  seem  the  very  perfec- 
tion of  comfort.  In  fact,  comfort,  which  is  unknown 
among  the  profane  of  Mexico,  has  taken  refuge  with 
the  archbishop ;  and  though  many  drops  of  it  are  shed 
on  the  shaven  heads  of  all  bishops,  curates,  confessors, 
and  friars,  still  in  his  illustrious  person  it  concentrates, 
as  in  a  focus.  He  himself  is  a  benevolent,  good- 
hearted,  good-natured,  portly  and  jovial  personage,  with 
the  most  laissez-aller  air  and  expression  conceivable. 
He  looks  like   one  on  whom  the  good  things  of  this 


300  MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

world  have  fallen  in  a  constant  and  benignant  shower, 
which  shower  hath  fallen  on  a  rich  and  fertile  soil. 
He  is  generally  to  be  seen  leaning  back  in  his  carriage, 
dressed  in  purple,  with  amethyst  cross,  and  giving  his 
benediction  to  the  people  as  he  passes.  He  seems  en- 
gaged in  a  pleasant  revery,  and  his  countenance  wears 
an  air  of  the  most  placid  and  insouciant  content.  He 
enjoys  a  good  dinner,  good  wine,  and  ladies'  society,  but 
just  sufficiently  to  make  his  leisure  hours  pass  plea- 
santly, without  indigestion  from  the  first,  headaches 
from  the  second,  or  heartaches  from  the  third.  So  does 
his  life  seem  to  pass  on  like  a  deep  untroubled  stream, 
on  whose  margin  grow  sweet  flowers,  on  whose  clear 
waters  the  bending  trees  are  reflected,  but  on  whose 
placid  face  no  lasting  impression  is  made. 

*'  I  have  no  doubt  that  his  charities  are  in  propor- 
tion to  his  large  fortune ;  and  when  I  say  that  I  have 
no  doubt  of  this,  it  is  because  I  firmly  believe  there 
exists  no  country  in  the  world  where  charities  both 
public  and  private  are  practised  on  so  noble  a  scale, 
especially  by  the  women,  under  the  direction  of  the 
priests.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that,  generally  speak- 
ing, charity  is  a  distinguishing  attribute  of  a  Catholic 
country. 

"  The  archbishop  is  said  to  be  a  man  of  good  in- 
formation, and  was  at  one  time  a  senator.  In  1833, 
being  comprehended  in  the  law  of  banishment,  caused 
by  the  political  disturbances  which  have  never  ceased 
to  afllict  this  country  since  the  independence,  he  passed 
some  time  in  the  United  States,  chiefly  in  New  Orleans, 
but  this,  I  believe,  is  the  only  cloud  that  has  darkened 
his  horizon,  or  disturbed  the  tranquil  current  of  his  life. 
His  consecration,  with  its  attendant  fatigues,  must  have 
been  to  him  a  wearisome  overture  to  a  pleasant  drama, 


THE    CHURCH.  301 

a  hard  stepping-stone  to  glory.  As  to  the  rest,  he  is 
very  unostentatious ;  and  his  conversation  is  far  from 
austere.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  one  of  the  best  tem- 
pered and  most  cheerful  old  men  in  society  that  it  is 
possible  to  meet  with.  .  .  ." 

Mr.  Thompson  says  almost  in  the  same  words :  "  The 
archbishop  of  Mexico  is  a  stout,  healthy-looking  and  very 
agreeable  old  gentleman,  the  personification  of  a  burly  and 
jolly  priest.  He  is  a  man  of  learning  and  well  spoken  of 
by  every  one.  I  took  a  great  fancy  to  the  archbishop 
of  Cesarea,  and  I  believe  that  it  was  in  some  degree 
mutual.  I  might  almost  say  with  the  romantic  German 
girl  who  met  another  over  a  stove,  at  an  inn  on  the  road- 
side, that  at  the  first  sight  we  swore  ^  eternal  friendship 
to  each  other.'  When  I  was  about  to  leave  the  room  he 
came  to  me  and  asked  where  I  lived,  and  said  that  he 
intended  to  call  upon  me.  I  begged  that  he  would  not 
do  so,  but  allow  me  to  make  the  first  visit  (for  that  is  the 
custom  in  Mexico),  the  stranger  making  the  first  call 
upon  the  resident.  But  the  next  day,  the  good  old  man 
called  at  my  house,  and  as  I  happened  not  to  be  at  home 
he  would  not  leave  his  card,  but  told  my  servant  that 
he  would  call  again,  as  he  did  not  wish  me  to  regard 
his  visit  as  one  of  mere  form.  This,  of  course,  brought 
about  a  great  intimacy  between  us,  and  I  often  visited 
him  at  his  country  house  on  the  borders  of  the  city.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  pleasant  hours  which  I  have  spent 
there,  nor  cease  to  remember  the  venerable  and  good 
old  man  with  gratitude  and  affection.  He  is  a  man  of 
learning,  especially  on  all  matters  connected  with  the 
church  and  its  history." 

To  the  Santa  Fe  and  other  Texan  prisoners,  he  was 
uniformly  kind,  and  no  man  in  Mexico  has  been  heard 


302         MEXICO    AND    HER    MILITARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

to  say  one  word  to  the  discredit  of  the  good  old  arch- 
bishops of  Mexico  and  Cesarea. 

The  following  are  the  several  sees  and  the  amount  of 
their  revenues  in  1805,  since  when,  by  the  increase 
of  the  mining  operations,  they  have  probably  doubled  in 
value. 

Mexico  -  -  -  $130,000 

Puebla        -  -  -  -  110,000 

Valladolid  -  -  -  100,000 

Guadalajara  -  -  -  90,000 

Durango  -  -  -  35,000 

Monterey    -  -  -  -  30,000 

Yucatan*  -  -  -  20,000 

Oaxaca      -  -  -  -  18,000 

Sonora  -  -  -  6,000 

The  above  dignitaries  preside  over  the  religion  of 
Mexico,  which  permits  no  dissent ;  so  much  so  that  it 
was  long  impossible  to  procure  even  the  right  of  burial 
but  by  bribery,  for  a  person  not  a  Catholic.  In  1825, 
even  the  capital  of  Mexico  was  not  exempt  from  this 
barbarous  prohibition,  from  which  there  would  now  be 
no  escape  but  for  a  singular  speech  of  Senator  Canedo. 
The  matter  being  under  discussion,  that  gentleman  said  : 
"  I  perfectly  assent  to  the  principles  of  my  colleagues 
remarks,  but  only  regret  they  cannot  be  reduced  to  prac- 
tice, and  therefore  would  vote  against  their  propositions. 
It  could  not  be  denied  there  were  many  foreigners  in 
Mexico,  and  as  a  necessary  consequence,  some  of  them 
must  die.  What,  then,  shall  we  do  with  their  bodies? 
I  see  but  four  modes  of  disposing  of  them ;  to  bury,  to 
burn,  to  eat,  or  to  export  them.  To  dispose  of  them  in 
the  first  manner  my  reverend  colleagues  would  not  con- 
sent ;  the  second  is  too  expensive ;  the  third  I  have  no 
objection  to,  provided  I  am  not  called  on  to  officiate ; 


THL    CHURCH.  303 

and  (lead  heretics  are  not  included  in  the  last  tariff.  I 
vote,  therefore,  for  burial,  as  the  least  of  four  evils." 

The  senate  agreed  with  Seiior  Canedo,  and  heretics 
may  be  buried  in  Mexico  in  a  separate  cemetery. 

The  council  of  the  Indies  contributed  more  than  any 
other  cause  to  the  corruption  of  religion  in  Mexico,  from 
the  fact  that  it  allowed  no  direct  intercourse  with  the 
Holy  See ;  permitted  no  delegate  or  nuncio  to  visit  the 
new  world,  and  no  bull  or  rescript  to  be  published  until 
fortified  by  the  placet  of  the  king  or  council.  To  this 
may  be  attributed  the  corruption  of  the  faith  by  Aztec 
traditions,  and  that  independence  which  makes  the 
Mexican  church  what  it  is,  a  mass  of  corruption,  with 
but  little  dependence  on  the  Pope. 


ADDITIONAL  CHAPTER. 

Causes  of  the  present  war — Mexican  spoliations — Annexation 
of  Texas  to  the  United  States  —  Palo  Alto — Resaca  de  la 
Palma — Monterey — Buena  Vista — Vera  Cruz — Cerro  Gordo. 

Almost  from  the  commencement  of  the  Mexican 
republic,  outrages  on  the  persons  and  property  of 
American  citizens  have  been  committed  in  Mexico,  and 
redress  has  always  been  either  positively  refused,  or  so 
delayed  that  both  there  and  in  the  United  States  the 
idea  became  current  that  such  violations  of  the  laws  of 
nations  were  to  be  overlooked  and  unpunished. 

This  course  on  the  part  of  Mexico  was  especially 
disgraceful,  as  the  United  States  had  been  the  first 
nation  to  recognise  her  separate  existence,  and  Ameri- 
can citizens  had  fought  well  in  more  than  one  of  the 
battles  of  her  revolution.  The  many  changes  of  the 
executive  brought  no  change  of  policy,  and  our 
countrymen  began  to  look  on  the  state  of  things  as 
hopeless. 

Often  trivial  pretexts  were  made  use  of  to  justify 
these  acts,  and  a  shadow  of  provocation  sometimes 
found  in  the  adventurous  character  of  American  mer- 
chants and  seamen,  who,  altogether  unused  to  civil  war 
at  home,  could  not  be  brought  to  respect  blockades 
where  both  parties  fought  under  the  same  flag,  and 
were  equally  loud  in  their  professions  of  love  to  a 
common  country. 

This  state  of  things  was  endured  patiently  by  the 


MKXICAN    SPOLIATIONS.  305 

government  and  people  of  this  country,  because  both  the 
one  and  the  other  were  unwilling  to  add  to  the  burdens 
of  Mexico,  and  hoped  that  a  calmer  day  would  break 
over  the  sister  republic,  and  a  season  of  peace  at  home 
enable  her  to  attend  to  her  foreign  obligations. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  1831,  a  treaty  of  amity  and 
navigation  was  concluded  between  the  republics  ;  but 
almost  before  the  ink  on  the  parchment  was  dry,  fresh 
outrages  were  perpetrated,  so  that  within  six  years 
after  that  date.  General  Jackson,  in  a  message  to 
Congress,  declared  that  they  had  become  intolerable, 
and  that  the  honor  of  the  United  States  required  that 
Mexico  should  be  taught  to  respect  our  flag. 

He  declared  that  war  should  not  be  used  as  a 
remedy  "  by  just  and  generous  nations  confiding  in  their 
strength  for  injuries  committed,  if  it  can  be  honorably 
avoided ;"  and  added,  "  it  has  occurred  to  me  that  con- 
sidering the  present  embarrassed  condition  of  that 
country,  we  should  act  with  both  wisdom  and  modera- 
tion, by  giving  to  Mexico  one  more  opportunity  to  atone 
for  the  past,  before  we  take  redress  into  our  own  hands. 
To  avoid  all  misconception  on  the  part  of  Mexico,  as 
w^ell  as  to  protect  our  national  character  from  reproach, 
this  opportunity  should  be  given  with  the  avowed  design 
and  full  preparation  to  take  immediate  satisfaction,  if  it 
should  not  be  obtained  on  a  repetition  of  the  demand 
for  it.  To  this  end  I  recommend  that  an  act  be  passed 
authorizing  reprisals,  and  the  use  of  the  naval  force  of 
the  United  States,  by  the  excutive,  against  Mexico,  to 
enforce  them  in  the  event  of  a  refusal  by  the  Mexican 
government  to  come  to  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the 
matters  in  controversy  between  us,  upon  another  demand 
thereof,  made  from  on  board  of  one  of  our  vessels  of 

war  on  the  coast  of  Mexico." 
20 


306  MEXICAN    SPOLIATIONS. 

Both  houses  of  congress  coincided  with  him ;  but  the 
senate  recommended,  the  house  of  representatives  con- 
curring, that  another  demand  be  made,  which,  should  it 
be  disregarded,  would  justify  the  United  States  in  taking 
into  their  own  hands  the  redress  of  the  many  injuries 
they  had  received. 

Immediately,  a  special  messenger  was  despatched  to 
Mexico,  to  make  a  final  demand  for  redress;  and  on 
the  20th  of  July,  1837,  the  demand  was  made.  The 
reply  of  the  Mexican  government  on  the  29th  of  the 
same  month,  contains  assurances  of  the  "  anxious  wish" 
of  the  Mexican  government,  "not  to  delay  the  mo- 
ment of  that  final  and  equitable  adjustment  which  is 
to  terminate  the  existing  difficulties  between  the  two 
governments;"  that  "nothing  should  be  left  undone 
which  may  contribute  to  the  most  speedy  and  equitable 
determination  of  the  subjects  which  have  so  seriously 
engaged  the  attention  of  the  American  government ;" 
that  the  "  Mexican  government  would  adopt,  as  the  only 
guides  for  its  conduct,  the  plainest  principles  of  public 
right,  the  sacred  obligations  imposed  by  international 
law,  and  the  religious  faith  of  treaties;"  and  that 
"  whatever  reason  and  justice  may  dictate  respecting 
each  case  will  be  done."  The  assurance  was  further 
given,  that  the  decision  of  the  Mexican  government 
upon  each  cause  of  complaint,  for  which  redress  has 
been  demanded,  should  be  communicated  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  by  the  Mexican  minister  at 
Washington. 

These  solemn  assurances,  in  answer  to  demands  for 
redress,  were  never  fulfilled.  By  making  them,  how- 
ever, Mexico  obtained  further  delay. 

During  the  whole  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren 
a  similar  state  of  affairs  existed,  and  though  the  presi^ 


MEXICAN    SPOLTATIONS.  307 

dent  urged  the  adoption  of  decisive  measures,  yet  from 
feelings  of  forbearance,  and  a  disposition  to  avoid  the 
presentation  to  the  civiHzed  world,  of  the  two  greatest 
republics  of  the  universe,  following  the  example  of  mo- 
narchical rulers,  wrangling  in  forgetfulness  of  their  true 
interest,  congress  hesitated. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1839,  a  joint  commission  was 
appointed,  which,  however,  was  not  organized  until 
August  11th,  1840.  The  powers  of  the  commission  by 
the  act  creating  it,  terminated  in  February,  1842,  and 
Mr.  Polk,  in  his  last  annual  message,  thus  characterizes 
its  conduct : 

^' Four  of  the  eighteen  months  were  consumed  in 
preliminary  discussions  on  frivolous  and  dilatory  points 
raised  by  the  Mexican  commissioners ;  and  it  was  not 
until  the  month  of  December,  1840,  that  they  com- 
menced the  examination  of  the  claims  of  our  citizens 
upon  Mexico.  Fourteen  months  only  remained  to 
examine  and  decide  upon  these  numerous  and  compli- 
cated cases.  In  the  month  of  February,  1842,  the  term 
of  the  commission  expired,  leaving  many  claims  undis- 
posed of  for  want  of  time.  The  claims  which  were 
allowed  by  the  board,  and  by  the  umpire  authorized  by 
the  convention  to  decide  in  case  of  disagreement  between 
the  Mexican  and  American  commissioners,  amounted  to 
two  millions  twenty-six  thousand  one  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  dollars  and  sixty-eight  cents.  There  were 
pending  before  the  umpire  when  the  commission  expired 
additional  claims  which  had  been  examined  and  awarded 
by  the  American  commissioners,  and  had  not  been 
allowed  by  the  Mexican  commissioners,  amounting  to 
nine  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  six  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  dollars  and  eight  cents,  upon  which 
he  did  not  decide,  alleging  that  his  authority  had  ceased 


308  MEXICAN    SPOLIATIONS. 

with  the  termination  of  the  joint  commission.  Besides 
these  claims,  there  were  others  of  American  citizens, 
amounting  to  three  millions  three  hundred  and  thirty-six 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirt}'-seven  dollars  and  five 
cents,  which  had  been  submitted  to  the  board,  and  upon 
which  they  had  not  time  to  decide  before  their  final 
adjournment. 

"  The  sum  of  two  millions  twenty-six  thousand  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  dollars  and  sixty-eight  cents, 
which  had  been  awarded  to  the  claimants,  was  a  liqui- 
dated and  ascertained  debt  due  by  Mexico,  about  which 
there  could  be  no  dispute,  and  which  she  was  bound  to 
pay  according  to  the  terms  of  the  convention.  Soon 
afler  the  final  awards  for  this  amount  had  been  made, 
the  Mexican  government  asked  for  a  postponement  of 
the  time  of  making  the  payment  at  the  time  stipulated. 
In  the  spirit  of  forbearing  kindness  towards  a  sister 
republic,  which  Mexico  has  so  long  abused,  the  United 
States  promptly  complied  with  her  request.  A  second 
convention  was  accordingly  concluded  between  the  two 
governments  on  the  30th  of  January,  1843,  which  upon 
its  face  declares,  that  '  this  new  arrangement  is  entered 
into  for  the  accommodation  of  Mexico.'  By  the  terms 
of  this  convention,  all  the  interest  due  on  the  awards 
w^hich  had  been  made  in  favor  of  the  claimants  under 
the  convention  of  the  11th  of  April,  1839,  was  to  be 
paid  to  them  on  the  30th  of  April,  1843,  and  the  'prin- 
cipal of  the  said  aw^ards,  and  the  interest  accruing 
thereon,'  was  stipulated  to  <be  paid  in  five  years,  in 
equal  instalments  every  three  months.'  Notwithstanding 
this  new  convention  was  entered  into  at  the  request  of 
Mexico,  and  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  her  from  em- 
barrassment, the  claimants  have  only  received  the  inter- 
est due  on  the  30th  of  April,  1843,  and  three  of  the 


MEXICAN    h-pOLIATIOXS.  309 

twenty  instalments.  Although  the  payment  of  the  sum 
thus  liquidated,  and  CQnfessedly  due  by  Mexico  to  our 
citizens  as  indemnity  for  acknowledged  acts  of  outrage 
and  wrong,  was  secured  by  treaty,  the  obligations  of 
which  are  ever  held  sacred  by  all  just  nations,  yet 
Mexico  has  violated  this  solemn  engagement  by  failing 
and  refusing  to  make  the  payment.  The  two  instalments 
due  in  April  and  July,  1844,  under  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances connected  with  them,  have  been  assumed  by  the 
United  States  and  discharged  to  the  claimants,  but  they 
are  still  due  by  Mexico.  But  this  is  not  all  of  which 
we  have  just  cause  of  complaint.  To  provide  a  remedy 
for  the  claimants  whose  cases  w^ere  not  decided  by  the 
joint  commission  under  the  convention  of  April  the  11th, 
1839,  it  was  expressly  stipulated  by  the  sixth  article  of 
the  convention  of  the  30th  of  January,  1843,  that  ''a 
new  convention  be  entered  into  for  the  settlement  of  all 
claims  of  the  government  and  citizens  of  the  United 
States  against  the  republic  of  Mexico  which  were  not 
finally  decided  by  the  late  commission,  which  met  in  the 
city  of  Washington,  and  of  all  claims  of  the  government 
and  citizens  of  Mexico  against  the  United  States.' 

"  In  conformity  with  this  stipulation,  a  third  conven- 
tion w^as  concluded  and  signed  at  the  city  of  Mexico  on 
the  20th  of  November,  1843,  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of 
the  two  governments,  by  which  provision  was  made  for 
ascertaining  and  paying  these  claims.  In  January, 
1844,  this  convention  was  ratified  by  the  senate  of  the 
United  States  with  two  amendments,  which  were  mani- 
festly reasonable  in  their  character.  Upon  a  reference 
to  the  amendments  proposed  to  the  government  of 
Mexico,  the  same  evasions,  difficulties,  and  delays  were 
interposed  which  have  so  long  marked  the  policy  of  that 
government  towards  the  United  States.     It  has  not  even 


310  ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS. 

yet  decided  whether  it  would  or  would  not  accede  to 
them,  although  the  subject  has  been  repeatedly  pressed 
upon  its  consideration." 

By  failing  to  carr}'  out  the  stipulations  of  this  last 
convention,  Mexico  again  outraged  the  government  of 
the  United  States. 

This  long  series  of  outrages  was  no  doubt  a  reason 
for  war,  but  it  may  be  doubted  if  it  produced  the 
existing  hostihties  with  Mexico.  It  has  ever  been  the 
poUcy  of  the  United  States  to  recognise  all  governments 
existing  de  facto,  a  rule  which  induced  Mr.  Monroe  to 
recommend  the  institution  of  diplomatic  intercourse  with 
Mexico,  and  all  the  South  American  repubUcs,  as 
soon  as  they  had  exhibited  to  the  world  their  capacity 
to  defend  themselves.  Mexico  should  not  complain 
that  the  United  States  pleased  to  recognise  Texas  as 
free  and  independent,  since  it  followed  as  a  corollary 
from  the  conduct  of  the  same  government  towards  herself. 
On  the  21st  day  of  April,  1836,  Santa  Anna  had  been 
defeated  by  Houston,  since  when  a  Mexican  soldier  has 
never  been  in  Texas  ;  and  in  May,  1836,  the  president 
of  Mexico,  in  a  solemn  treaty,  recognised  the  inde- 
pendence of  that  republic.  It  is  not  pretended  that 
that  treaty  is  binding  on  Mexico,  which  never  ratified 
it,  except  so  far  that  it  estops  her  from  complaining  if 
other  nations  follow  the  example  of  the  chief  magistrate 
of  Mexico,  and  look  on  the  rebel  province  as  a  sove- 
reign state. 

On  the  29th  day  of  December,  1845,  Texas  was 
admitted  into  the  North  American  Union,  as  the 
government  understood  it,  embracing  all  the  territory 
ceded  to  Spain  by  the  Florida  treaty  of  1819,  and  also 
that  territory  beyond  the  Neuces  over  which  the  repub- 
lic of  Texas  had  exercised  sovereign  rights. 


ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS.  311 

Mr.  Polk,  in  his  message,  thus  defines  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  United  States : 

"  The  congress  of  Texas,  on  the  19th  of  December, 
1836,  passed  '  an  act  to  define  the  boundaries  of  the 
republic  of  Texas,'  in  which  they  declared  the  Rio 
Grande,  from  its  mouth  to  its  source,  to  be  their 
boundary ;  and  by  the  said  act  they  extended  their 
*  civil  and  political  jurisdiction'  over  the  country  up 
to  that  boundary.  During  a  period  of  more  than 
nine  years,  which  intervened  between  the  adoption  of 
her  constitution  and  her  annexation  as  one  of  the  states 
of  the  Union,  Texas  asserted  and  exercised  many  acts 
of  sovereignty  and  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  and 
inhabitants  west  of  the  Neuces.  She  organized  and 
defined  the  limits  of  counties  extending  to  the  Rio 
Grande.  She  established  courts  of  justice,  and  ex- 
tended her  judicial  system  over  the  territory.  She 
established  a  custom-house,  and  collected  duties,  and 
also  post  oflfices  and  post  roads,  in  it.  She  established 
a  land  office,  and  issued  numerous  grants  for  land, 
within  its  limits.  A  senator  and  a  representative 
residing,  in  it  were  elected  to  the  congress  of  the 
republic,  and  served  as  such  before  the  act  of  annex- 
ation took  place.  In  both  the  congress  and  convention 
of  Texas,  which  gave  their  assent  to  the  terms  of 
annexation  to  the  United  States  proposed  by  our  con- 
gress, were  representatives  residing  west  of  the  Neuces, 
who  took  part  in  the  act  of  annexation  itself.  This 
was  the  Texas  which,  by  the  act  of  our  congress  of  the 
29th  of  December,  1845,  was  admitted  as  one  of  the 
states  of  our  Union.  That  the  congress  of  the  United 
States  understood  the  state  of  Texas  which  they  ad- 
mitted into  the  union  to  extend  beyond  the  Neuces,  is 
apparent,  from  the  fact  that  on  the  31st  of  December, 


312  COMMENCEMENT    OF    HOSTILITIES. 

1845,  only  two  days  after  the  act  of  admission,  they 
passed  a  law  '  to  establish  a  collection  district  in  the 
state  of  Texas,'  by  which  they  created  a  port  of  de- 
livery at  Corpus  Christi,  situated  west  of  the  Neuces, 
and  being  the  same  point  at  which  the  Texas  custom- 
house, under  the  laws  of  the  repubhc,  had  been  located, 
and  directed  that  a  surveyor  to  collect  the  revenue 
should  be  appointed  for  that  port  by  the  president,  by 
and  wdth  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate.  A 
surveyor  was  accordingly  nominated,  and  confirmed  by 
the  senate,  and  has  been  ever  since  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties.  All  these  acts  of  the  republic  of  Texas, 
and  of  our  congress,  preceded  the  orders  for  the 
advance  of  our  army  to  the  east  bank  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  Subsequently  congress  passed  an  act  *  es- 
tablishing certain  post  routes,'  extending  west  of  the 
Neuces." 

It  is  not  unlikely  there  would  have  been  no  war,  at 
least  immediately,  had  not  the  United  States  occupied 
the  country  w^est  of  the  Neuces,  which  was  done  by 
General  Taylor,  who  encamped  at  Corpus  Christi  in 
August,  1845,  where  the  army  remained  until  March 
1846,  when  it  moved  westw^ard  to  the  east  bank  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  opposite  Matamoras.  While  these  move- 
ments were  being  made,  an  agent  of  the  United  States, 
Mr.  SHdell,  was  in  Mexico  insisting  on  being  received 
as  a  plenipotentiary,  w^hile  Mexico  would  only  recognise 
him  as  a  commissioner,  a  circumstance  w^hich  produced 
much  acrimonious  discussion  in  both  repubUcs. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  Paredes,  then  president, 
through  his  secretary  of  war  ordered  the  Mexican 
general  on  the  Texan  frontier  to  attack  the  army  of 
the  United  States. 

General  Arista  at  once  obeyed  his  orders  by  rendering 


PALO    ALTO.  313 

it  no  longer  doubtful  that  the  two  armies  were  in  a 
state  of  hostility.  After  several  skirmishes,  in  one  of 
which  Captain  Thornton  was  captured  with  a  squadron 
of  dragoons,  in  another,  Lieutenant  Porter,  of  the  fourth 
infantry,  was  killed,  and  a  gallant  officer  of  Texas 
troops  had  a  narrow  escape,  Fort  Brown,  a  strong  \vork 
thrown  up  by  General  Taylor  opposite  Matamoras,  was 
attacked  by  a  powerful  force  under  cover  of  the  ord- 
nance of  the  city,  and  a  strong  battery  erected  by  the 
Mexicans  during  the  night  of  the  4th.  The  bom- 
bardment lasted  during  the  6th  (when  the  commander 
of  the  fort.  Major  Brown,  was  killed) ;  and  during  the 
8th,  when  under  the  command  of  Major  Hawkins,  the 
garrison  continued  to  make  good  their  defence.  They 
were  successful ;  and  during  the  day  the  firing  told  them 
General  Taylor  was  engaged  with  the  main  Mexican 
army. 

During  the  events  which  transpired  in  front  of  Fort 
Brown,  both  armies  had  been  busy.  General  Taylor 
having  gone  to  the  assistance  of  Point  Isabel,  w^hich  was 
menaced  by  the  Mexican  force,  and  from  which  he  ex- 
pected to  obtain  supplies  for  the  rest  of  his  troops.  The 
force  of  the  American  general  was  small ;  but  rarely 
has  any  commander  led  better  troops  to  battle  than 
Taylor,  on  the  8th  of  May,  arrayed  in  front  of  the 
opposing  force ;  on  the  right  was  the  light  artillery  of 
Ringgold,  a  battalion  of  fifth  and  third  infantry,  on  the 
left  another  light  battery,  commanded  by  Duncan,  and 
battalions  of  the  fourth  and  eighth  infantry,  all  veteran 
troops,  which,  during  the  w^ar  in  Florida,  had  undergone 
the  baptism  of  fire,  and  been  subjected  to  all  the  ordeals 
incident  to  a  partisan  war.  The  cavalry  was  held  in 
reserve. 

The  enemy  numbered  six  thousand  men.  The  first 
prominent  movement  they  made  was  an  attempt  to  pass 


314  RESACA    DE    LA    PALMA. 

around  the  chapparal  which  protected  the  right  of  the 
American  forces,  and  attack  the  train  with  supplies. 
This  effort  was  foiled  by  the  fifth  foot,  which  wheeled 
into  square,  received  the  charge  of  the  Mexican  lancers, 
and  sent  them  to  the  right-about  with  a  volley  which 
did  no  little  execution.  The  lancers  were,  however, 
again  rallied  and  brought  to  the  attack,  when  the  third 
infantry,  in  column  of  divisions,  met  them.  They  im- 
mediately retired  after  receiving  the  fire  of  a  section  of 
light  artillery  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Ridgely,  which 
had  been  detached  from  Ringgold's  battery. 

The  left  of  the  enemy  was  mowed  down  by  the 
American  artillery,  though  the  eighth  foot  suffered  much 
from  the  Mexican  fire.  The  result  of  the  day  was  that 
the  American  right  occupied  the  ground  on  which  the 
enemy  had  originally  stood.  This  was  the  result  of  the 
battle  of  Palo  Alto. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  Gen.  Taylor  collected  his  own 
and  the  enemy's  wounded  into  one  hospital,  among 
whom  were  many  gallant  officers  ;  and  moved  in  pur- 
suit of  the  retreating  enemy  towards  Resaca  de  la  Palma. 

This  battle  was  essentially  one  of  the  bayonet  and 
sabre,  assisted  by  the  artillery.  Here  it  was  that  May 
made  his  famous  charge,  which  already  has  become  cele- 
brated as  the  deeds  of  Cromwell's  ironsides,  and  the  as- 
saults of  Lee's  legion.  He  lost  at  least  one-half  of  his 
men,  but  was  lucky  enough  to  take  the  battery  he  as- 
saulted, and  with  it  the  Mexican  General  Romulo  de  la 
"Vega.  The  enemy  subsequently  retook  this  battery ; 
but,  at  the  end  of  the  day,  it  was  in  possession  of  the 
fifth  regiment  of  United  States  infantry,  which  captured 
it  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  a  second  time. 

The  following  are  General  Taylor's  despatches,  giv- 
ing an  account  of  these  battles : — 


Taylor's  despatch.  315 

Head-Quarters  Army  of  Occupation. 
Camp  at  Palo  Alto.  Texas^  May  9,  1846. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  I  was  met  near 
this  place  yesterday,  on  my  march  from  Point  Isabel,  by 
the  Mexican  forces,  and  after  an  action  of  about  five 
hours,  dislodged  them  from  their  position  and  encamped 
upon  the  field.  Our  artillery,  consisting  of  two  eigh- 
teen pounders  and  two  light  batteries,  was  the  arm 
chiefly  engaged,  and  to  the  excellent  manner  in  which 
it  was  mancEuvred  and  served,  is  our  success  mainly  due. 
The  strength  of  the  enemy  is  believed  to  have  been 
about  6000  men,  w'ith  seven  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
800  cavalry.  His  loss  is  probably  at  least  one  hundred 
killed.  Our  strength  did  not  exceed,  all  told,  twenty- 
three  hundred,  while  our  loss  was  comparatively  trifling 
— four  men  killed,  three  officers  and  thirty-seven  men 
wounded,  several  of  the  latter  mortally.  I  regret  to 
say  that  Major  Ringgold,  2d  artille/y,  and  Captain 
Page,  4th  infantry,  are  severely  wounded.  Lieutei^nt 
Luther,  2d  artillery,  slightly  so. 

The  enemy  has  fallen  back,  and  it  is  believed  has  re- 
passed the  river.  I  have  advanced  parties  now  thrown 
forward  in  his  direction,  and  shall  move  the  main  body 
immediately. 

In  the  haste  of  this  report,  I  can  only  say  that  the 
officers  and  men  behaved  in  the  most  admirable  manner 
throughout  the  action.  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of 
making  a  more  detailed  report  when  those  of  the  diffe- 
rent commanders  shall  be  received. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  TAYLOR, 

Brevet  Brigadier-General  U.  S.  A.,  Commanding, 

The  Adjutant-General,  U.  S.  Armv, 
Washington.  D.  C. ' 


316 


TAVLOR  S    DESPATCH. 


Head-Quarters  Army  of  Occupation,  \ 
Camp  at  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  3  miles  from  \ 
Matamoras.  10  o'clock,  P.M.,  May  9,  1846.  ) 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  I  marched  with 
the  main  body  of  the  army  at  two  o'clock  to-day,  having 
previously  thrown  forward  a  body  of  light  infantry  into 
the  forest  which  covers  the  Matamoras  road.  When 
near  the  spot  where  I  am  now  encamped,  my  advance 
discovered  that  a  ravine  crossing  the  road  had  been 
occupied  by  the  enemy  with  artillery.  I  immediately 
ordered  a  battery  of  field  artillery  to  sweep  the  position, 
Hanking  and  sustaining  it  by  the  3d,  4th,  and  5th  regi- 
ments, deployed  as  skirmishes  to  the  right  and  left.  A 
heavy  fire  of  artillery  and  of  musketry  was  kept  up  for 
some  time,  until  finally  the  enemy's  batteries  were  carried 
in  succession  by  a  squadron  of  dragoons  and  the  regi- 
ments of  infantry  that  were  on  the  ground.  He  was 
soon  driven  from  his  position,  and  pursued  by  a  squadron 
o^  dragoons,  battalion  of  artillery,  3d  infantry,  and  a 
light  battery,  to  the  river.  Our  victory  has  been  com- 
plete. Eight  pieces  of  artillery,  with  a  great  quantity 
of  ammunition,  three  standards,  and  some  one  hundred 
prisoners  have  been  taken ;  among  the  latter.  General 
La  Vega,  and  several  other  officers.  One  general  is 
understood  to  have  been  killed.  The  enemy  has  re- 
crossed  the  river,  and  I  am  sure  will  not  again  molest  us 
on  this  bank. 

The  loss  of  the  enemy  in  killed  has  been  most  severe. 
Our  own  has  been  very  heavy,  and  I  deeply  regret  to 
report  that  Lieutenant  Inge,  2d  dragoons,  Lieutenant 
Cochrane,  4th  infantry,  and  Lieutenant  Chadbourne,  8th 
infantry,  were  killed  on  the  field.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Payne,  4th  artillery ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mcintosh,  Lieu- 


317 

tenant  Dobbins,  3d  infantry ;  Captain  Hooe  and  Lieu- 
tenant Fowler,  5th  infantry  ;  and  Captain  Montgomery, 
Lieutenants  Gates,  Selden,  McClay,  Burbank,  and 
Jordan,  8th  infantry,  were  wounded.  The  extent  of 
our  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  is  not  yet  ascertained, 
and  is  reserved  for  a  more  detailed  report. 

The  affair  of  to-day  may  be  regarded  as  a  proper 
supplement  to  the  cannonade  of  yesterday  ;  and  the 
two  taken  together,  exhibit  the  coolness  and  gallantry 
of  our  officers  and  men  in  the  most  favorable  light. 
All  have  done  their  duty,  and  done  it  nobly.  It  will 
be  my  pride,  in  a  more  circumstantial  report  of  both 
actions,  to  dwell  upon  particular  instances  of  individual 
distinction. 

It  affords  me  peculiar  pleasure  to  report,  that  the 
field  work  opposite  Matamoras  has  sustained  itself 
handsomely  during  a  cannonade  and  bombardment  of 
160  hours.  But  the  pleasure  is  alloyed  vnth  profound 
regret  at  the  loss  of  its  heroic  and  indomitable  com- 
mander, Major  Brown,  who  died  to-day  from  the  effects 
of  a  shell.  His  loss  would  be  a  severe  one  to  the  service 
at  any  time,  but  to  the  army  under  my  orders  it  is 
indeed  irreparable.  One  officer  and  one  non-com- 
missioned officer  killed,  and  ten  men  wounded,  comprise 
all  the  casualties  incident  to  this  severe  bombardment. 

I  inadvertently  omitted  to  mention  the  capture  of  a 
large  number  of  pack-mules  left  in  the  Mexican  camp. 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  TAYLOR, 

Brevet  Brigadier-General  U.  S.  A.  Commanding. 

The  Adjutant-General  of  the  Army, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


318  arista's  bulletin. 

In  the  interim  Fort  Brown  had  been  summoned,  and 
the  garrison  been  informed  that  Taylor  was  defeated. 
The  lie  was,  however,  unproductive,  as  both  officers  and 
men  knew  better,  having  served  with  Taylor  in  the 
everglades,  and  knew  he  was  emphatically  one  of  those 
who  might  die,  but  never  surrender. 

The  following  is  the  bulletin  of  the  Mexican  com- 
mander to  his  superior,  a  strange  contrast  to  the  sim- 
plicity and  terseness  of  the  successful  general : 

General-in-ChieFj 

Most  Excellent  Sir  :  Constant  in  my  purpose  of 
preventing  General  Taylor  from  uniting  the  forces  which 
he  brought  from  the  Fronton  of  Santa  Isabel,  with 
those  which  he  left  fortified  opposite  Matamoras,  I 
moved  this  day  from  the  Fanques  del  Raminero,  whence 
I  despatched  my  last  extraordinary  courier,  and  took  the 
direction  of  Palo  Alto,  as  soon  as  my  spies  informed  me 
that  the  enemy  had  left  Fronton,  with  the  determination 
of  introducing  into  his  fort  wagons  loaded  with  provi- 
sions and  heavy  artillery. 

I  arrived  opposite  Palo  Alto  about  one  o'clock,  and 
observed  that  the  enemy  was  entering  that  position. 

With  all  my  forces,  I  established  the  line  of  battle  in 
a  great  plain,  my  right  resting  upon  an  elevation,  and 
my  left  on  a  slough  of  difficult  passage. 

Scarcely  was  the  first  caimon  fired,  when  there  arrived 
General  Pedro  de  Ampudia,  second  in  command,  whom 
I  had  ordered  to  join  me  after  having  covered  the  points 
which  might  serve  to  besiege  the  enemy  in  the  forts 
opposite  Matamoras. 

The  forces  under  my  orders  amounted  to  three  thou- 
sand men,  and  twelve  pieces  of  artillery ;  those  of  the 


1 


319 

invaders  were  three  thousand,  rather  less  than  more, 
and  were  superior  in  artillery,  since  they  had  twenty 
pieces  of  the  calibre  of  sixteen  and  eighteen  pounds. 

The  battle  commenced  so  ardently,  that  the  fire  of 
cannon  did  not  cease  a  single  moment.  In  the  course 
of  it,  the  enemy  wished  to  follow  the  road  towards 
Matamoras,  to  raise  the  siege  of  his  troops ;  with  which 
object  he  fired  the  grass,  and  formed  in  front  of  his  line 
of  battle  a  smoke  so  thick,  that  he  succeeded  in  covering 
himself  from  our  view,  but  by  means  of  manoeuvres  this 
was  twice  embarrassed. 

General  Taylor  maintained  his  attack  rather  defen- 
sively than  offensively,  employing  his  best  arm,  which 
is  artillery,  protected  by  half  of  the  infantry,  and  all  of 
his  cavalry — keeping  the  remainder  fortified  in  the 
ravine,  about  two  thousand  yards  from  the  field  of 
battle. 

I  was  anxious  for  the  charge,  because  the  fire  of  can- 
non did  much  damage  in  our  ranks,  and  I  instructed 
General  D.  Anastasio  Torrejon  to  execute  it  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  cavalry,  by  our  lefi:  flank,  while  one 
should  be  executed  at  the  same  time  by  our  right  flank, 
with  some  columns  of  infantry,  and  the  remainder  of 
that  arm  [cavalry]. 

I  was  waiting  the  moment  when  that  general  should 
execute  the  charge,  and  the  effect  of  it  should  begin  to 
be  seen,  in  order  to  give  the  impulse  on  the  right ;  but 
he  was  checked  by  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  which  defended 
a  slough  that  embarrassed  the  attack. 

Some  battalions,  becoming  impatient  by  the  loss 
which  they  suffered,  fell  into  disorder,  demanding  to 
advance  or  fall  back,  i  immediately  caused  them  to 
charge  with  a  column  of  cavalry,  under  the  command 


320 

of  Colonel  D.  Cayetano  Montero  ;  the  result  of  this  ope- 
ration being  that  the  dispersed  corps  repaired  their  fault 
as  far  as  possible,  marching  towards  the  enemy,  who,  in 
consequence  of  his  distance,  was  enabled  to  fall  back 
upon  his  reserve,  and  night  coming  on,  the  battle  was 
concluded — the  field  remaining  for  our  arms. 

Ever)'  suitable  measure  was  then  adopted,  and  the 
division  took  up  a  more  concentrated  curve  in  the  same 
scene  of  action. 

The  combat  was  long  and  bloody,  which  may  be  esti- 
mated from  the  calculations  made  by  the  commandant- 
general  of  artillery,  General  D.  Thomas  Requena,  who. 
assures  me  that  the  enemy  threw  about  three  thousand 
cannon-shots  from  two  in  the  afternoon,  when  ft^  battle 
commenced,  until  seven  at  night,  w^hen  it  terminated — 
six  hundred  and  fifty  being  fired  on  our  side. 

The  national  arms  shone  forth,  since  they  did  not 
yield  a  hand's-breadth  of  ground,  notwithstanding  the 
superiority  in  artillery  of  the  enemy,  who  suffered  much 
damage. 

Our  troops  have  to  lament  the  loss  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty-two  men,  dispersed,  wounded,  and  killed — 
the  last  worthy  of  national  recollection  and  gratitude  for 
the  intrepidity  with  which  they  died  fighting  for  the 
most  sacred  of  causes. 

Will  your  excellency  please  with  this  note  to  report 
to  his  excellency  the  president,  representing  to  him  that 
I  will  take  care  to  give  a  circumstantial  account  of  this 
deed  of  arms ;  and  recommending  to  him  the  good 
conduct  of  all  the  generals,  chiefs,  officers,  and  soldiers 
under  my  orders,  for  sustaining  so  bloody  a  combat, 
which  does  honor  to  our  arms,  and  exhibits  their  dis- 
cipline. 


MONTEREY.  321 

Accept  the  assurances  of  my  consideration  and  great 
regard. 

God  and  Liberty ! 
Head-Quarters,  Palo  Alto,  m  sight  of  the  enemy.  May  8, 
1846. 

MARIANO  ARISTA. 
Most  Excellent  Sir,  ) 

Minister  of  War  and  Marine,  i 

Many  were  the  incidents  of  humanity  which  occur- 
red and  relieved  the  sternness  of  the  battle-field,  but 
which  it  scarcely  belongs  to  our  plan  to  relate. 

The  result  of  these  battles  was,  that  Matamoras  surren- 

,  (!l#red,^.and  General  Taylor  having  been  reinforced  was 

•  enabfeS  to  march  to  Monterey,  which  he  reached  on  the 

19th  of  October,  encamping  at  the  Walnut   Springs, 

within  three  miles  of  the  city. 

The  attack  was  made,  and  after  four  days'  continual 
fighting,  General  Ampudia,  on  the  24th  of  October,  sent 
a  commission  proposing  to  surrender ;  and  finally  terms 
were  agreed  on  by  the  representatives  of  the  two  gene- 
rals, as  follows : 

Terms  of  capitulation  of  the  city  of  Monterey,  the 
capital  ofJYuevo  Leon,  agreed  upon  by  the  undersigned 
commissioners,  to  wit :  General  Worth,  of  the  United 
States  army,  General  Henderson,  of  the  Texan  volun- 
teers, and  Colonel  Davis,  of  the  Mississippi  riflemen,  on 
the  part  of  Major-General  Taylor,  Commander-in-chief 
of  the  United  States  forces,  and  General  Requena  and 
General  M.  Llano,  Governor  of  Nuevo  Leon,  on  the 
part  of  Senor  General  Don  Pedro  Ampudia,  command- 
ing in  chief  the  army  of  the  north  of  Mexico. 

Article  I.  As  the  legitimate  result  of  the  operations 
before  this  place,  and  the  present  position  of  the  con- 
21 


322  MONTEREY. 

tending  armies,  it  is  agreed  that  the  city,  the  fortifica- 
tions, cannon,  the  munitions  of  war,  and  all  other  public 
property,  with  the  undermentioned  exceptions,  be  sur- 
rendered to  the  commanding  general  of  the  United 
States  forces  now  at  Monterey. 

Article  II.  That  the  Mexican  forces  be  allowed  to 
retain  the  following  arms,  to  wit:  the  commissioned 
officers  their  side-arms,  the  infantry  their  arms  and 
accoutrements,  the  cavaliy  their  arms  and  accoutrements, 
the  artillery  one  field  battery,  not  to  exceed  six  pieces, 
with  tw^enty-one  rounds  of  ammunition. 

Article  III.  That  the  Mexican  armed  forces  retire, 
within  seven  days  from  this  date,  beyond  the  line  formed 
by  the  pass  of  Rinconada,  the  city  of  Linares,  and  SaH 
Fernando  de  Parras. 

Article  IV.  That  the  citadel  of  Monterey  be  evacu- 
ated by  the  Mexican  and  occupied  by  the  American 
forces  to-morrow  morning  at  ten  o'clock. 

Article  V.  To  avoid  collisions,  and  for  mutual  con- 
venience, that  the  troops  of  the  United  States  will  not 
occupy  the  city  until  the  Mexican  forces  have  withdrawn, 
except  for  hospital  and  storage  purposes. 

Article  VI.  That  the  forces  of  the  United  States 
will  not  advance  beyond  the  line  specified  in  the  3d 
article,  before  the  expiration  of  eight  weeks,  or  until 
orders  or  instructions  of  the  respective  governments  can 
be  received. 

Artice  VII.  That  the  public  property  to  be  delivered, 
shall  be  turned  over  and  received  by  officers  appointed 
by  the  commanding  generals  of  the  two  armies. 

Article  VIII.  That  all  doubts  as  to  the  meaning  of 
any  of  the  preceding  articles,  shall  be  solved  by  an  equi- 
table construction,  or  on  principles  of  liberality  to  the 
retiring  army. 


MONTEREY.  323 

Article  IX.  That  the  Mexican  flag,  when  struck  at 
the  citadel,  may  be  saluted  by  its  own  battery. 
Done  at  Monterey,  Sept.  24,  1846. 
W.  J.  WORTH, 
Brigadier- General  United  States  Army. 
J.  PINKNEY  HENDERSON, 
Major- General  commanding  the  Texan  Volunteers. 
JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 

Colonel  Mississippi  Riflemen. 
MANUEL  L.  LLANO, 
T.  REQUENA, 
ORTEGA. 
Approved, 
V  Z.  TAYLOR, 

Major- General  United  States  Jlrmy,  commanding. 
PEDRO  AMPUDIA. 

Rarely  has  it  ever  happened  that  any  surrender  has 
been  made  with  which  so  much  fault  has  been  found. 
For  yielding  up  Monterey,  General  Ampudia  has  been 
arraigned,  and  virtually  suspended  from  command,  be- 
cause he  did  not  properly  support  the  interests  of  Mexico, 
while  a  large  party  in  the  United  States  have  sought  to 
censure  General  Taylor,  and  have  by  implication,  done 
so,  because  he  did  not  insist  on  an  unconditional  surren- 
der. The  probability  is  that  injustice  was  done  to  both 
generals. 

For  want  of  troops  and  supplies,  General  Taylor  was 
long  detained  at  Monterey. 

In  the  mean  time  the  general-in-chief  of  the  army  had 
been  ordered  to  assume  the  command  of  a  large  force 
prepared  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  Vera  Cruz  and 
the  powerful  fort  of  San  Juan  de  UUoa,  with  orders  from 
Washington  city  to  withdraw  from  General  Taylor  the 
regulars  under  his  command,  who  had  fought  so  gal- 


324  BUENA    VISTA. 

lantly  at  Monterey  and  in  the  previous  battles,  the  num- 
ber of  which  was  six  hundred  men.  General  Taylor, 
somewhat  chagrined  at  the  circumstance,  immediately 
detached  General  Worth  w^th  them  to  join  General 
Scott,  and  having  learned  that  an  attempt  was  about  to 
be  made  to  cut  off  his  communication  with  Matamoras, 
he  determined  to  advance  and  meet  the  Mexican  presi- 
dent. On  the  20th  of  February  he  was  encamped  at 
Agua  Nueva,  about  eighteen  miles  south  of  Saltillo, 
where  he  learned  that  Santa  Anna,  at  the  head  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  was  about  twenty  miles  from  him. 

The  American  general  at  once  fell  back  to  an  admi- 
rable position  about  seven  miles  from  Saltillo,  called 
Buena  Vista. 

On  the  22d  the  American  troops  were  in  position 
with  the  Mexican  cavalry  in  front  of  them. 

General  Taylor  thus  describes  it :  "  Our  troops  were 
in  position,  occupying  a  line  of  remarkable  strength. 
The  road  at  this  point  becomes  a  narrow  defile,  the 
valley  on  its  right  being  rendered  quite  impracticable 
for  artillery  by  a  system  of  deep  and  impassable  gullies, 
while  on  the  left  a  succession  of  rugged  ridges  and  pre- 
cipitous ravines  extends  far  back  tow^ard  the  mountain 
which  bounds  the  valley.  The  features  of  the  ground 
w^re  such  as  nearly  to  paralyze  the  artillery  and  cavalry 
of  the  enemy,  while  his  infantry  could  not  derive  all  the 
advantage  of  its  numerical  superiority.  In  this  position 
we  prepared  to  receive  him.  Captain  Washington's 
battery  (4th  artillery)  was  posted  to  command  the  road, 
while  the  1st  and  2d  Illinois  regiments,  under  Colonels 
Hardin  and  Bissel,  each  eight  companies  (to  the  latter 
of  which  was  attached  Captain  Conner's  company  of 
Texas  volunteers),  and  the  2d  Kentucky,  under  Colonel 
McKee,  occupied  the  crests  of  the  ridges  on  the  left  and 


BUENA  VISTA.  325 

in  rear.  The  Arkansas  and  Kentucky  regiments  of 
cavalry,  commanded  by  Colonels  Yell  and  H.  Marshall, 
occupied  the  extreme  left  near  the  base  of  the  mountain, 
while  the  Indiana  brigade,  under  Brigadier-General 
Lane  (composed  of  the  2d  and  3d  regiments,  under 
Colonels  Bowles  and  Lane),  the  Mississippi  riflemen, 
under  Colonel  Davis,  the  squadrons  of  the  1st  and  2d 
dragoons,  under  Captain  Steen  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
May,  and  the  light  batteries  of  Captains  Sherman  and 
Bragg,  3d  artillery,  were  held  in  reserve." 

At  eleven  o'clock,  Santa  Anna  sent  the  following 
summons  to  General  Taylor,  which,  with  the  reply,  is 
subjoined : 

Summons  of  General  Santa  Anna  to  General  Taylor. 

You  are  surrounded  by  twenty  thousand  men,  and 
cannot,  in  any  human  probability,  avoid  suffering  a  rout, 
and  being  cut  to  pieces  with  your  troops ;  but  as  you 
deserve  consideration  and  particular  esteem,  I  wish  to 
save  you  from  a  catastrophe,  and  for  that  purpose  give 
you  this  notice,  in  order  that  you  may  surrender  at  dis- 
cretion, under  the  assurance  that  you  will  be  treated 
with  the  consideration  belonging  to  the  Mexican  cha- 
racter, to  which  end  you  will  be  granted  an  hour's  time 
to  make  up  your  mind,  to  commence  from  the  moment 
when  my  flag  of  truce  arrives  in  your  camp. 

With  this  view,  I  assure  you  of  my  particular  con- 
sideration. 

God  and  Liberty.  Camp  at  Encantada,  February 
22d,  1847. 

ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA. 
To  General  Z.  Taylor,  i 

Commanding  the  forces  of  the  U.  S.    ) 


326  BUENA  VISTA. 

Head-Quarters  Army  of  Occupation,  i 
Near  Buena  Vista,  February  22.  1847.  j 

Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  note  of  this  date,  summoning 
me  to  surrender  my  forces  at  discretion,  I  beg  leave  to 
say  that  I  decline  acceding  to  your  request. 
With  high  respect,  I  am,  sir. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  TAYLOR, 
Major  General  U.  S.  Army,  CGmmanding. 
Senor  Gen.  D.  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  | 
Commander-in-Chief,  La  Encantada.  j 

At  night-fall  many  brave  men  had  fallen.  General 
Taylor  was  in  possession  of  the  field,  and  when  morning 
came  the  enemy  had  retreated. 

Among  the  dead  none  were  more  lamented  than 
Captain  George  Lincoln,  of  the  army,  an  assistant  adju- 
tant-general, and  Colonels  Hardin,  McKee,  and  Yell, 
and  lieutenant-colonel  Clay,  of  the  volunteers. 

Santa  Anna  retreated,  but  he  contrived  to  raise  a 
report  which  represented  him  as  victorious,  too  curious 
to  be  omitted.  Even  the  Mexicans,  however,  did  not 
believe  it.  The  extracts  which  follow  will  suffice  to 
show  its  tenor : 

"  On  the  26th,  after  I  had  ordered  General  Minon  to 
follow  the  movement,  the  army  commenced  its  retreat 
with  the  view  of  occupying  the  first  peopled  localities, 
where  resources  might  be  obtained,  such  as  Vanegas, 
Catorce,  El  Cadral,  and  Matehuala,  as  also  Tula;  but 
I  doubt  if  in  those  places  proper  attention  can  be  given 
to  the  sick  and  wounded — or  the  losses  we  have  sustained 
in  those  laborious  movements  be  remedied. 

<<  The  nation,  for  which  a  triumph  has  been  gained  at 
the  cost  of  so  many  sufferings,  will  learn  that,  if  we 


VERA    CRUZ.  327 

■were  able  to  conquer  in  the  midst  of  so  many  embrrass- 
ments,  there  will  be  no  doubt  as  to  our  final  success  in 
the  struggle  we  sustain,  if  every  spirit  but  rallies  to  the 
one  sacred  object  of  common  defence.  A  mere  deter- 
mined number  of  men  will  not,  as  many  imagine,  suffice 
for  the  prosecution  of  war;  it  is  indispensable  that 
they  be  armed,  equipped,  disciplined,  and  habituated, 
and  that  systematized  support  for  such  an  organized  force 
be  provided.  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  we  have  to 
combat  in  a  region  deficient  of  all  resources,  and  that 
everything  for  subsistence  has  to  be  carried  along  with 
the  soldiery :  the  good-will  of  a  few  will  not  suffice,  but 
the  co-operation  of  all  is  needed  ;  and  if  we  do  not  cast 
aside  selfish  interests  and  petty  passions,  we  can  expect 
nothing  but  disaster.  The  army,  and  myself  who  have 
led  it,  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  we  have 
demonstrated  this  truth. 

"  Your  excellency  will  be  pleased  to  report  to  his  ex- 
cellency, the  vice-president  of  the  republic,  and  to  pre- 
sent to  him  my  assurance  of  respect. 

'i  God  and  Liberty !    Rancho  de  San  Salvador,  Febru- 
ary 27th,  1847. 
(Signed) 

ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA 
To  His  Excellency,  the  Minister  of  War  and  Marine." 

Santa  Anna  was  beaten  shamefully,  and  was  glad  to 
take  advantage  of  a  pronunciamento,  to  quell  which  he 
went  to  Mexico. 

In  the  mean  time  General  Scott,  aided  by  the  naval 
forces,  had  landed  his  men,  and  after  a  bombardment  of 
six  days  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  surrendered,  with  the 
castle  of  San  Juan  and  all  other  dependencies,  to  his 
arms.     The  Mexican  troops,  commanded  by  Generals 


328  CERRO    GORDO. 

Landero  and  Morales,  laid  down  their  arms  and  were 
paroled,  and  the  American  flag  was  raised  over  the  city 
which  never  before  had  been  in  the  power  of  an  invader. 

General  Worth  was  appointed  temporary  governor 
of  Vera  Cruz,  from  which  General  Scott  at  once  set  out 
towards  Mexico.  On  the  17th  of  April  he  approached 
the  defile  of  Cerro  Gordo,  always  reputed  impregnable, 
and  defended  by  Santa  Anna  wuth  twenty  thousand  men, 
to  oppose  whom  were  twelve  tliousand  Americans. 

The  foUowing  orders  and  despatch  express  the  events 
of  this  day  better  than  any  other  account  or  description 
can,  and  vn\\  place  General  Scott  at  the  head  of  the 
great  commanders  of  the  age. 

Head-Quarters  of  the  Army.  | 
Plain  Del  Rio,  April  17,  1847.   '  j 

(General  Orders,  No.  111.) 

The  enemy's  whole  line  of  intrenchments  and  bat- 
teries will  be  attacked  in  front,  and  at  the  same  time 
turned  early  in  the  day  to-morrow — probably  before  ten 
o'clock,  A.  M. 

The  second  (Twiggs's)  division  of  regulars  is  already 
advanced  within  easy  turning  distance  towards  the  ene- 
my's left.  That  division  has  orders  to  move  forward 
before  daylight  to-morrow,  and  take  up  position  across 
the  National  Road  to  the  enemy's  rear,  so  as  to  cut  off 
a  retreat  towards  Jalapa.  It  may  be  reinforced  to-day, 
if  unexpectedly  attacked  in  force,  by  regiments — one  or 
two  taken  from  Shields's  brigade  of  volunteers.  If  not, 
the  two  volunteer  regiments  will  march  for  that  purpose 
at  daylight  to-morrow  morning,  under  Brigadier-General 
Shields,  who  will  report  to  Brigadier-General  Twiggs  on 
getting  up  with  him,  or  the  general-in-chief,  if  he  be  in 
advance. 


CKRRO  GORDO.  329 

The  remaining  regiment  of  that  volunteer  brigade 
will  receive  instructions  in  the  course  of  this  day. 

The  first  division  of  regulars  (Worth's)  will  follow 
the  movement  against  the  enemy's  left  at  sunrise  to- 
morrow morning. 

As  already  arranged,  Brigadier-General  Pillow's  bri- 
gade will  march  at  six  o'clock  to-morrow  morning,  along 
the  route  he  has  carefully  reconnoitred,  and  stand  ready 
as  soon  as  he  hears  the  report  of  arms  on  our  right — 
sooner,  if  circumstances  should  favor  him — to  pierce  the 
enemy's  line  of  batteries  at  such  point — the  nearer  the 
river  the  better — as  he  may  select.  Once  in  the  rear  of 
that  line,  he  wdll  turn  to  the  right  or  left,  or  both,  and 
attack  the  batteries  in  reverse,  or  if  abandoned,  he  will 
pursue  the  enemy  with  vigor  until  further  orders. 

Wall's  field  battery  and  the  cavalry  will  be  held  in 
reserve  on  the  National  Road,  a  little  out  of  view  and 
range  of  the  enemy's  batteries.  They  will  take  up  that 
position  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

The  enemy's  batteries  being  carried  or  abandoned, 
all  our  divisions  and  corps  will  pursue  wuth  vigor. 

This  pursuit  may  be  continued  many  miles,  until 
stopped  by  darkness  or  fortified  positions  towards  Ja- 
lapa.  Consequently,  the  body  of  the  army  will  not 
return  to  this  encampment,  but  be  followed  to-morrow 
afternoon,  or  early  the  next  morning,  by  the  baggage 
trains  for  the  several  corps.  For  this  purpose,  the 
feebler  officers  and  men  of  each  corps  will  be  left  to 
guard  its  camp  and  effects,  and  to  load  up  the  latter  in 
the  wagons  of  the  corps. 

As  soon  as  it  shall  be  known  that  the  enemy's  works 
have  been  carried,  or  that  the  general  pursuit  has  been 
commenced,  one  wagon  for  each  regiment,  and  one  for 
the  cavalry,  will  follow^  the  movement,  to  receive,  under 


330  CERRO  GORDO. 

the  directions  of  medical  officers,  the  wounded  and  dis- 
abled, who  will  be  brought  back  to  this  place  for  treat- 
ment in  the  general  hospital. 

The  surgeon-general  will  organize  this  important 
service  and  designate  that  hospital,  as  well  as  the 
medical  officers  to  be  left  at  that  place. 

Every  man  who  marches  out  to  attack  or  pursue  the 
enemy  will  take  the  usual  allowance  of  ammunition, 
and  subsistence  for  at  least  two  days. 

By  command  of  Major-General  Scott, 

H.  L.  SCOTT,  A.  A.  A.  General. 

Head-Quarters  of  the  Army,         \ 

Plain  del  Rio,  fifty  miles  from  Vera  Cruz,  \ 

April  19,  1847.      ) 

Sir  :  The  plan  of  attack  sketched  in  general  orders 
No.  Ill,  herewith,  was  finely  executed  by  this  gallant 
army,  before  two  o'clock  P.  M.  yesterday.  We  are 
quite  embarrassed  with  the  results  of  victory — prisoners 
of  war,  heavy  ordnance,  field-batteries,  small  arms, 
and  accoutrements.  About  three  thousand  men  laid 
down  their  arms,  with  the  usual  proportion  of  field  and 
company  officers,  besides  five  generals,  several  of  them 
of  great  distinction :  Pinson,  Jarrero,  La  Vega,  Noriega, 
and  Obando.  A  sixth  general,  Vasquez,  was  killed  in 
defending  the  battery  (tower)  in  the  rear  of  the  whole 
Mexican  army,  the  capture  of  which  gave  us  those 
glorious  results. 

Our  loss,  though  comparatively  small  in  numbers, 
has  been  serious.  Brigadier- General  Shields,  a  com- 
mander of  activity,  zeal,  and  talent,  is,  I  fear,  if  not 
dead,  mortally  wounded.  He  is  some  miles  from  me 
at  the  moment.  The  field  of  operations  covered  many 
miles,  broken  by  mountains  and  deep  chasms,  and  I 


CERRO    GORDO.  331 

have  not  a  report,  as  yet,  from  any  division  or  brigade. 
Twiggs's  division,  followed  by  Shields's  (now  Colonel 
Baker's)  brigade,  are  now  at  or  near  Jalapa,  and  Worth's 
division  is   in  route  thither,  all   pursuing,  with   good 
results,  as  I  learn,  that  part  of  the  Mexican  army — 
perhaps  6000  or  7000  men — who  fled  before  our  right 
had  carried   the  tow-er,  and  gained  the  Jalapa  road. 
Pillow's  brigade,  alone,  is  near  me,  at  this  depot  of 
wounded,  sick,  and  prisoners,  and  I  have  time  only  to 
give  from  him  the  names  of  1st  Lieutenant  F.  B.  Nel- 
son, and  2d  C.  C.  Gill,  both  of  the  2d  Tennessee  foot 
(Haskell's  regiment),  among  the  killed,  and  in  the  bri- 
gade 106,  of  all  ranks,  killed  or  wounded.     Among  the 
latter,  the  gallant  brigadier  himself  has  a  smart  wound 
in  the  arm,  but  not  disabled,  and  Major  R.  Farqueson, 
2d  Tennessee;  Captain  H.  F.  Murray,  2d  Lieutenant 
G.  T.  Sutherland,  1st  Lieutenant  W.  P.  Hale  (adju- 
tant), all  of  the  same  regiment,  severely,  and  1st  Lieu- 
tenant  W.   Yearwood,    mortally   wounded.      And    I 
know,  from  personal  observation  on  the  ground,  that 
1st  Lieutenant  Ewell,  of  the  rifles,  if  not  now  dead, 
was  mortally  w^ounded,  in  entering,  sword  in  hand,  the 
intrenchments   around   the   captured    tower.       Second 
Lieutenant   Derby,   Topographical   Engineers,   I   also 
saw,  at  the  same  place,  severely  wounded,  and  Captain 
Patton,  2d  United  States  infantry,  lost  his  right  hand. 

Major  Sumner,  2d  United  States  dragoons,  was 
slightly  wounded  the  day  before,  and  Captain  Johnston, 
Topographical  Engineers  —  now  lieutenant-colonel  of 
infantry  —  was  very  severely  wounded  some  days 
earlier,  while  reconnoitering. 

I  must  not  omit  to  add  that  Captain  Mason  and 
2d  Lieutenant  Davis,  both  of  the  rifles,  were  among  the 
very  severely  wounded  in  storming  the  same  tower. 


332  CERRO    GORDO. 

I  estimate  our  total  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  may  be 
about  250,  and  that  of  the  enemy  350.  In  the  pursuit 
towards  Jalapa  (twenty-five  miles  hence),  I  learn  we 
have  added  much  to  the  enemy's  loss  in  prisoners,  killed, 
and  wounded.  In  fact,  I  suppose  his  retreating  army  to 
be  nearly  disorganized,  and  hence  my  haste  to  follow, 
in  an  hour  or  two,  to  profit  by  events. 

In  this  hurried  and  imperfect  report,  I  must  not  omit 
to  say  that  Brigadier-General  Twiggs,  in  passing  the 
mountain  range  beyond  Cerro  Gordo,  crowned  with  the 
tower,  detached  from  his  division,  as  I  suggested  before, 
a  strong  force  to  carry  that  height,  which  commanded 
the  Jalapa  road  at  the  foot,  and  could  not  fail,  if  carried, 
to  cut  off  the  whole,  or  any  part  of  the  enemy's  forces 
from  a  retreat  in  any  direction.  A  portion  of  the  first 
artillery,  under  the  often  distinguished  Brevet-Colonel 
Childs,  the  3d  infantry,  under  Captain  Alexander,  the 
7th  infantry,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Plymton,  and 
the  rifles,  under  Major  Loring,  all  under  the  temporary 
command  of  Colonel  Harney,  2d  dragoons,  during  the 
confinement  to  his  bed  of  Brevet  Brigadier-General 
P.  F.  Smith,  composed  that  detachment.  The  style  of 
execution,  which  I  had  the  pleasure  to  witness,  was 
most  brilliant  and  decisive.  The  brigade  ascended  the 
long  and  difficult  slope  of  Cerro  Gordo,  without  shelter, 
and  under  the  tremendous  fire  of  artillery  and  musketr}-, 
wdth  the  utmost  steadiness,  reached  the  breastworks, 
drove  the  enemy  from  them,  planted  the  colors  of  the 
1st  artillery,  3d  and  7th  infantr}- — the  enemy's  flag  still 
flying — and,  after  some  minutes  of  sharp  firing,  finished 
the  conquest  with  the  bayonet. 

It  is  a  most  pleasing  duty  to  say  that  the  highest 
praise  is  due  to  Harney,  Childs,  Plymton,  Loring, 
Alexander,  their  gallant  officers  and  men,  for  this  bril 


CERRO    GORDO.  333 

liant  service,  independent  of  the  great  result  which  soon 
followed. 

Worth's  division  of  regulars  coming  up  at  this  time, 
he  detached  Brevet  Lieutenant-Colonel  C.  F.  Smith, 
with  his  light  battalion,  to  support  the  assault,  but  not 
in  time.  The  general,  reaching  the  tow^er  a  few  minutes 
before  me,  and  observing  a  white  flag  displayed  from 
the  nearest  portion  of  the  enemy  towards  the  batteries 
below,  sent  out  Colonels  Harney  and  Childs  to  hold  a 
parley.     The  surrender  followed  in  an  hour  or  two. 

Major-General  Patterson  left  a  sick  bed  to  share  in 
the  dangers  and  fatigues  of  the  day  ;  and  after  the  sur- 
render went  forward  to  command  the  advanced  forces 
towards  Jalapa. 

Brigadier-General  Pillow  and  his  brigade  twice 
assaulted  with  great  daring  the  enemy's  line  of  batteries 
on  our  left ;  and  though  without  success,  they  contri- 
buted much  to  distract  and  dismay  their  immediate 
opponents. 

President  Santa  Anna,  with  Generals  Canalizo  and 
Almonte,  and  some  six  or  eight  thousand  men,  escaped 
towards  Jalapa  just  before  Cerro  Gordo  was  carried, 
and  before  Twiggs's  division  reached  the  National  Road 
above. 

I  have  determined  to  parole  the  prisoners — officers 
and  men — as  I  have  not  the  means  of  feeding  them 
here,  beyond  to-day,  and  cannot  afford  to  detach  a 
heavy  body  of  horse  and  foot,  with  wagons,  to  accom- 
pany them  to  Vera  Cruz.  Our  baggage  train,  though 
increasing,  is  not  half  large  enough  to  give  an  assured 
progress  to  this  army.  Besides,  a  greater  number  of 
prisoners  would,  probably,  escape  from  the  escort  in  the 
long  and  deep  sandy  road,  without  subsistence — ten  to 
one — that  we  shall  find  again,  out  of  the  same  body  of 


334  CERRO    GORDO. 

men,  in  the  ranks  opposed  to  us.  Not  one  of  the  Vera 
Cruz  prisoners  is  believed  to  have  been  in  the  lines  of 
Cerro  Gordo.  Some  six  of  the  officers,  highest  in  rank, 
refuse  to  give  their  paroles,  except  to  go  to  Vera  Cruz, 
and  thence,  perhaps,  to  the  United  States. 

The  small  arms  and  their  accoutrements,  being  of  no 
value  to  our  army  here  or  at  home,  I  have  ordered 
to  be  destroyed,  for  we  have  not  the  means  of  trans- 
porting them.     I  am,  also,  somewhat  embarrassed  with 

the pieces  of  artillery — all  bronze — which  w^e  have 

captured.  It  will  take  a  brigade,  and  half  the  mules 
of  this  army  to  transport  them  fifty  miles.  A  field- 
battery  I  shall  take  for  service  with  the  army ;  but 
the  heavy  metal  must  be  collected,  and  left  kere  for 
the  present.  We  have  our  own  siege  train  and  the 
proper  carriages  with  us. 

Being  much  occupied  with  the  prisoners,  and  all  the 
details  of  a  forward  movement,  besides  looking  to  the 
supplies  which  are  to  follow  from  Vera  Cruz,  I  have 
time  to  add  no  more — intending  to  be  at  Jalapa  early 
to-morrow\  We  shall  not,  probably,  again  meet  with 
serious  opposition  this  side  of  Perote — certainly  not, 
unless  delayed  by  the  want  of  transportation. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  sir,  with  high  respect, 
your  most  obedient  servant, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

P.  S.  I  invite  attention  to  the  accompanying  letter 
to  President  Santa  Anna,  taken  in  his  carriage  yester- 
day;  also  to  his  proclamation,  issued  on  hearing  we  had 
captured  Vera  Cruz,  &c.,  in  which  he  says: — "  If  the 
enemy  advance  one  step  more,  the  national  independence 
will  be  buried  in  the  abyss  of  the  past."  We  have 
taken  that  step.  W.  S. 

I  make  a  second  postscript,  to  say  that  there  is  some 


VINDICATION    OF    SANTA    ANNA.  335 

hope,  I  am  happy  to  learn,  that  General  Shields  may 
survive  his  wounds. 

One  of  the  principal  motives  for  paroling  the  pri- 
soners of  war  is,  to  diminish  the  resistance  of  other 
garrisons  in  our  march. 

Hon.  Wm.  L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  War. 

The  consequences  of  this  victory  were  felt  at  Mexico 
more  immediately  than  any  of  the  preceding  triumphs, 
and  caused  Santa  Anna  to  put  forth,  over  the  signature 
of  one  of  his  adherents,  Manuel  Maria  Jimen,  the  fol- 
lowing vindication  of  his  tactics  and  conduct,  which 
appeared  immediately  afterwards  in  the  government 
organ,  etjtDiario  del  Gohierno : 

"  The  internal  enemies  of  the  country,  the  secret 
agents  of  our  external  enemies,  those  who  are  laboring 
to  open  to  them  the  gates  of  the  capital,  neglect  no 
means,  however  criminal,  of  fomenting  dissensions  and 
distrust  among  us,  as  more  favorable  to  the  designs  of 
the  invader  is  our  own  disunion  than  all  the  disasters  we 
can  suffer  in  combat.  Hence  the  zeal  and  the  bad  faith 
with  which  they  present  to  the  pubhc  their  accounts  of 
the  events  of  the  war,  disfiguring  them  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  disasters  of  our  army,  as  well  in  the  north  as 
in  the  east,  may  be  attributed  not  to  involuntary  errors, 
but  to  treason. 

"  With  a  like  motive  do  they  endeavor  to  depreciate 
General  Santa  Anna,  knowing,  as  they  do,  that  he  is 
the  enemy  whom  the  North  Americans  most  fear,  and 
that  he  once  out  of  the  way,  they  will  have  removed 
the  principal  obstacle  that  they  have  met  with  up  to  the 
present  time,  in  their  career  of  destruction  and  conquest. 

"  This  idea  predominating,  these  internal  enemies  of 


336  VINDICATION    OF    SANTA    ANNA. 

the  country  have  published  various  pamphlets,  repre- 
senting the  triumph  obtained  by  our  arms  at  the  Angos- 
tura as  a  loss.  At  the  present  moment  they  are  doing 
the  same  thing  in  relation  to  the  actions  of  the  Tele- 
grafo  and  Cerro  Gordo,  in  both  of  which  they  censure 
the  general-in-chief  in  terms  so  severe,  that  it  only 
remains  to  accuse  him  clearly  and  expressly  of  treason. 

"  The  editorial  of  the  38th  number  of  the  Bulletin 
of  Democracy  (^whose  authors  are  well  known),  is  full  of 
this  kind  of  charges  against  Santa  Anna,  who  is  there 
accused  of  the  loss  of  Cerro  Gordo ;  the  article  saying 
that  all  the  bad  fortune  proceeded  from  a  want  of 
foresight  in  the  preparations,  and  from  a  like  want  of 
judgment  at  the  time  of  the  attack,  and  from  bad  ar- 
rangements. We  are  given  to  understand  that  he  sac- 
rificed uselessly  a  large  portion  of  this  force.  And  he  is 
even  blamed  for  not  performing  a  miracle  by  raising,  in 
a  moment,  a  new  army,  just  as  if  he  were  in  France  in 
the  time  of  the  National  Convention.  We  need  only 
read,  with  a  little  attention,  the  said  editorial,  to  pene- 
trate the  depth  and  the  wickedness  of  the  design  of  its 
authors.  Unjust  men !  your  calumnies  suffice  to  detect 
your  partiality  and  your  insane  intentions. 

"  Without  calling  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the 
documents  published  in  the  Diario  del  GoUerno,  and  in 
other  papers,  the  Republicano,  (which  certainly  cannot 
be  taxed  with  partiality  to  Santa  Anna),  in  its  number 
of  the  23d  inst.,  gives  a  clear  idea  of  what  took  place  in 
this  action — dissipates  the  rash  imputations  of  our  ene- 
mies— and  depicting  the  conduct  of  the  invader,  his 
tactics,  his  numerical  superiority,  the  advantages  of  his 
artillery,  and  all  that  contributed  to  facilitate  his  tri- 
umphs, demonstrates  most  completely,  that  our  loss  was 
the  result  of  inevitable  misfortune. 


VINDICATION    OF   SANTA    ANNA.  337 

"  In  fact,  our  position  was  well  chosen ;  it  was  forti- 
fied as  well  as  circumstances  permitted ;  its  flanks  were 
covered,  and  all  was  foreseen  that  was  to  have  been 
foreseen  in  regular  order,  and  in  the  usual  tactics  of 
war.  True  it  is,  that  no  expectation  was  entertained 
of  the  rare,  bold,  and  desperate  operation  of  the  enemy, 
who,  in  the  night  between  the  17th  and  18th,  broke 
through  the  woods,  crossed  a  ravine  up  to  that  time 
never  crossed,  and  taking  in  reverse  the  position  which 
the  main  body  of  our  army  occupied,  surprised  it  in  the 
time  of  action,  made  a  general  attack  on  all  parts  at 
once,  and  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  infantry,  the  artillery, 
and  even  a  part  of  the  cavalry.  It  is  pretended  that 
even  the  general  ought  to  have  foreseen  this  risk.  But 
to  this  argument  two  sufficient  replies  may  be  made : 
First — that  notwithstanding  the  old  opinion,  confirmed 
by  the  experience  of  the  whole  war  from  1810  to  1821, 
that  the  road  by  which  the  enemy  flanked  us  was  im- 
practicable, the  general  did  not  neglect  it,  since  he 
stationed,  in  order  to  cover  it,  the  greater  part  of  his 
cavalry  in  the  mouth  of  the  gorge ;  and  if  this  force  did 
not  fulfil  the  object  of  its  mission,  the  fault  should  not 
be  imputed  to  the  general-in-chief.  We  do  not  intend 
here  to  examine  and  qualify  the  conduct  of  the  chief  or 
chiefs  of  the  cavalry ;  the  fact  is,  that  the  point  which 
this  force  should  have  guarded  was  left  uncovered,  and 
that  is  more  than  sufficient  to  justify  General  Santa 
Anna. 

"  Secondly — a  recent  historical  fact  may  serve  for  the 
second  solution  of  the  question.  We  refer  to  the  pas- 
sage of  Bonaparte  over  the  great  St.  Bernard,  executed 
likewise  at  night,  with  such  silence  and  despatch,  that 
the  Austrian  general,  deceived  by  the  dexterity  of  the 
operation,  said,  on  the  following  day,  before  he  learned 


338  VINDICATION    OF    SANTA    ANNA. 

the  result,  «that  he  answered  with  his  life,  that  the 
French  artillery  had  not  passed  that  way.'  And  if  this 
happened  in  Europe,  in  the  midst  of  a  w^eit  that  had 
formed  so  many  expert  commanders,  it  need  not  astonish 
us  that  like  events  transpire  among  ourselves !  Men  are 
not  gods!"         ****** 

After  enlarging  upon  the  particular  instances  of 
patriotism  displayed  by  Santa  Anna,  from  the  beginning 
of  his  career  down  to  the  present  time,  his  apologist 
concludes  by  the  following  peroration  : — 

"  Mexicans,  be  just !  Do  not  suffer  yourselves  to  be 
deceived  by  perverse  and  e-vil- intention ed  men !  Reflect 
that  some  of  those  writers,  who  to-day  are  so  eager  to 
lead  astray  your  opinions,  to  the  prejudice  of  our  well- 
deserving  president,  have  sold  themselves  to  him  for 
friends — have  flattered  him  in  the  season  of  his  pros- 
perity, and  now  declare  themselves  his  enemies  when 
fortune  is  against  him.  Examine  well  the  facts — com- 
pare, judge  with  attention  and  impartiality;  and  it  is 
sure  that  your  conclusion  must  be,  that  gratitude  is  due 
to  Santa  Anna,  as  one  of  the  best  servants  of  the  repub- 
lic, both  before  and  since  its  independence. 
(Signed) 

MANUEL  MARIA  JIMEN." 

Not  satisfied  \vith  this  explanation,  Santa  Anna  attri- 
buted the  failure  to  the  misconduct  of  one  of  his  officers, 
who  replied  ;  and  General  Minon,  who  had  commanded 
his  cavalry  at  Buena  Vista,  and  on  that  occasion  been 
similarly  censured,  also  took  occasion  to  reply,  and 
charged  the  president  with  cow^ardice,  and  a  catalogue 
of  faults,  the  least  of  which  was  sufficient  to  cause  his 
removal.  That  strife  of  w^ords  yet  continues,  and  is  not 
the  least  of  the  difficulties  which  oppress  Santa  Anna. 


339 

From  the  letter  of  Minon,  the  following  extracts 
may  not  be  uninteresting,  and  will  serve  to  show  the 
tenor  of  the  whole  document : 

"  In  every  battle  which  he  has  lost,  and  they  are  all 
those  in  which  he  has  attempted  to  command  in  person, 
there  was  always  some  one  who  had  caused  the  defeat, 
to  blame  ;  at  Jalapa,  in  1822,  Sr.  Leno,  who  was  shot 
through  the  body  and  abandoned,  failed  in  the  combi- 
nation ;  at  Tolome,  Landero  and  Andonaegui  were 
culpable  ;  at  San  Jacinto,  CavStrillon  ;  and  to-day,  it  is  I. 
It  is  certainly  sorrowful  to  see  so  celebrated  a  general 
always  defeated  and  overcome,  always  and  everywhere, 
by  the*  faults  of  those  he  has  wdth  him.  My  astonish- 
ment arose  from  beholding  the  perfidy  with  which  Gen- 
eral Santa  Anna  had  acted  in  regard  to  me,  in  seeking 
a  pretext,  and  nothing  but  a  pretext,  to  palliate  the  pre- 
cipitation of  which  h-e  had  been  guilty,  and  to  liberate 
himself  at  the  same  time  from  the  indestructible  charges 
which  had  been  made  against  him,  for  leaving  San 
Luis  in  search  of  the  enemy,  without  providing  for  any- 
thing— for  having  given  battle  to  Taylor  where  he  did — 
for  the  errors  which  he  committed  in  the  attack — for  the 
absence  of  all  directions  during  the  battle,  which  might 
turn  it  to  profit — for  his  retirement  from  the  field  with- 
out necessity — for  his  want  of  foresight — in  fine,  in 
providing  for  attention  to  the  wounded,  subsistence  for 
the  troops,  and  for  their  orderly  retirement. 

< « The  nation  w'ill  know  one  day  what  that  was  which 
was  called,  without  shame,  the  victory  of  Angostura.  It 
w^ill  know  that  it  had  brave  soldiers,  worthy  to  rival,  in 
ardor  and  enthusiasm,  the  best  of  any  army  whatever; 
that  it  had  intrepid  officers,  who  led  them  gallantly  to 
the  combat ;  but  that  it  had  no  general  w^ho  knew  how 
to  make  use  of  these  excellent  materials.     The  nation 


340  mtnon's  statement. 

will  know  that  if,  on  those  memorable  fields,  a  true  and 
splendid  factory  was  not  achieved,  no  one  was  to  blame 
but  him  who  was  charged  with  leading  the  forces,  be- 
cause he  did  not  know  how  to  do  it.  According  to  the 
order  of  the  attack,  and  with  a  knowledge  of  the  posi- 
tions occupied  by  the  enemy,  speaking  in  accordance 
with  the  rules  of  art,  we  ought  to  have  been  defeated. 
We  were  not,  because  the  valor  of  our  troops  overcame 
all  the  disadvantages  with  which  we  had  to  struggle. 

The  battle  of  Anorostura  was  nothino;  but  a  disconnexion 

.  .  . 

of  sublime  individual  deeds,  partial  attacks  of  the  seve- 
ral corps  who  entered  the  action.  Their  chiefs  led  them 
according  to  the  divers  positions  taken  by  the  enemy,  in 
consequence  of  the  partial  defeats  which  he  suffered ; 
but  there  was  no  methodical  direction,  no  general  regu- 
lated attack,  no  plan  in  which  the  efforts  of  the  troops, 
according  to  their  class,  were  combined,  that  did  or 
could  produce  a  victory.  General  Santa  Anna  believes 
that  war  is  reduced  to  the  fighting  of  the  troops  of  one 
and  the  other  party,  wherever  they  meet  and  however 
they  choose.  General  Santa  Anna  beheves  that  a  battle 
is  no  more  than  the  shock  of  men,  with  much  noise, 
shouts,  and  shots,  to  see  who  can  do  the  most,  each  in 
his  own  way.  General  Santa  Anna  cannot  conceive  how 
it  happens  that  a  victory  may  be  gained  over  an  enemy 
by  wise  and  well-calculated  manoeuvres.  Thus  it  is 
that  he  has  everywhere  been  routed  ;  and  he  always  will 
be,  unless  he  should  have  the  fortune  to  meet  with  one 
who  has  the  same  ideas  with  himself  in  relation 
to  war." 

This  opinion  of  Minon's  is  perhaps  justified  by 
facts ;  Santa  Anna  at  the  head  of  the  men  of  the  tierra 
caliente,  would  be  one  of  the  most  formidable  enemies 
imaginable,  but  it  may  be  doubted  if,  like  his  Teniente 


CONDITION    OF    MEXICO.  341 

Arista,  he  is  not  altogether  incompetent  to  lead  masses 
of  troops.  This  is  not  an  unusual  failing,  though  the 
opinion  of  persons  ignorant  of  tactics  contravenes  it ; 
for  more  than  mere  courage  is  required  by  the  soldier, 
the  minutiae  of  whose  profession  embrace  details 
depending  upon  algebraic  calculations  and  synthetical 
combinations,  not  easily  intelligible  to  those  who  are 
not  initiated  by  practice  or  theoretical  instruction. 

The  internal  condition  of  Mexico  since  the  war  be- 
came certain,  has  not  been  harmonious.  Many  revolu- 
tions have  occurred,  one  of  which  has  deposed  Herrera, 
and  a  second  substituted  Santa  Anna  for  Paredes,  who 
has  been  driven  into  exile.  While  the  president  has 
been  at  the  head  of  the  army,  contests  have  occurred  in 
the  streets  of  Mexico,  where  Gomez  Farias,  Valencia, 
Salas,  and  minor  men  have  controlled  the  city,  seem- 
ingly reckless  of  the  fact  that  the  best  portion  of  their 
country  was  in  possession  of  an  enemy. 

How  Santa  Anna  was  permitted  to  return  to  Mexico 
has  been  much  discussed.  It  is  not,  however,  denied 
that  it  was  by  the  authority  of  the  president  of  the  United 
States ;  w^hether  wisely  or  not,  history  will  show. 

Whether  Santa  Anna  wishes  to  make  peace  or  not, 
no  one  can  tell,  for  he  is  so  harassed  with  priests  and 
politicos  that  he  dares  not  now  act  openly. 

The  conduct  of  the  clergy  in  all  the  political  events 
has  been  below  contempt.  Fostered  for  ages  by  the 
Mexican  people,  they  have  refused  to  pay  one  dollar 
towards  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  have  had  power 
enough  to  cause  the  purest  and  most  honest  man  in 
Mexico,  Farias,  to  be  stripped  of  his  power  as  provisional 
vice-president,  to  which  office  he  had  been  elected  since 
the  return  of  Santa  Anna,  and  seem  disposed  to  see  the 


34*2  CONDITION    OF    MEXICO. 

government  crumble  above  them  \sithout  being  willing 
[o  sustain  it. 

A  new  constitution  has,  within  the  last  few  weeks, 
been  inaugurated,  and  an  election  has  been  held,  the 
result  of  which  has  not  reached  us  as  yet.  So  far  the 
elections  seem  to  involve  no  principle  or  policy,  and  it 
does  not  seem  to  make  to  Mexico  or  the  world  the 
least  difference,  whether  Santa  Anna,  Eloriaga,  Bravo, 
or  Valencia  be  elected.  In  the  mean  time  General 
Scott  is  marching  on  Mexico  from  the  east,  the  western 
coast  is  controlled  by  the  naval  forces  of  the  United 
States,  General  Taylor  is  master  of  the  provincias 
internes,  and  General  Kearney  has  no  opponent  in 
California.  The  lesson  of  the  past  is,  however,  utterly 
lost  on  Mexico,  in  which  all  patriotism  seems  to  be 
extinct. 

The  Mexican  forces  have  been  uniformly  defeated  in 
every  battle ;  and  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons  have  given 
way  before  the  charge  of  the  American  army.  In  the 
stirring  events  which  have  occurred,  hundreds  of  men, 
previously  unknown  in  the  United  States,  have  acquired 
fame  and  honor ;  while  in  Mexico,  no  star  has  arisen  to 
penetrate  the  gloom  which  obscures  her  prospects.  In 
this  hour  of  distress,  the  country  turns  from  her  army, 
which  long  has  weighed  on  her  like  an  incubus,  to  find 
salvation  in  the  right  arms  of  her  people.  She  has  ap- 
pealed to  that  feeling,  which  in  the  United  States  made 
Marion  triumphant ;  which  enabled  La  Vendee  to  set  at 
defiance,  for  a  series  of  years,  the  best  armies  of  repub- 
lican France,  and  enabled  the  S^vitzers,  after  winning 
their  freedom  from  Austria,  to  maintain  it  against  the 
attacks  of  Burgundy. 

To  triumph  in  this  manner,  a  people  must  be  virtuous ; 


CONCLUSION.  343 

and  the  success  of  the  Spanish  guerillas,  under  Espoz  y 
Mina,  Empecinado,  and  other  chiefs,  must  be  attri- 
buted to  the  fact,  that  while  the  rulers  of  the  kingdom 
were  corrupt  and  degraded  as  possible,  the  people  and 
peasantry  remained  virtuous  and  brave,  as  they  had 
been  in  the  days  when  they  beat  back  the  Moors,  and 
conquered  Mexico  and  South  America.  Whether  the 
people  of  Mexico  can  dare  such  a  strife,  history  will 
show.  It  is,  however,  a  hazardous  experiment ;  and 
one  which,  if  it  fail,  subjects  the  conquered  to  the 
woful  condition  of  dependence  on  the  mercy  of  the 
conquerors. 

This  book  is  now  finished,  and  such  as  it  is,  is  pre- 
sented to  the  reader.  The  author  has  sought  no  eclat 
or  praise,  other  than  that  of  offering  a  fair  view  of  men 
and  things  in  a  country  of  which  the  most  erroneous 
opinions  are  now  entertained  by  the  mass  of  his 
countrymen. 


THE   END 


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aaxiously  sought  for  by  the  leading  teachers  and  professors  of  our  country  ;  but 

it  has  been  supposed  that,  desirable  as  such  knowledge  must  be  for  those  who 

are  charged  with  the  care  of  the  young,  there  is  something  in  the  nature  of  the 

Btudy,  rendering  it  unfit  for  introduction  into  seminaries.     The  error  of  this 

opinion  is  most  clearly  shown  in  the  work  now  offered  to  the  public.    It  contains 

not  a  word  that  can  be  regarded  as  objectionable  by  the  most  fastidious  delicacy. 

KENDALL'S  URANOGRAPHY: 

Or,  a  Description  of  the  Starry  Heavens.     Designed  for  the  use  of 

Schools  and  Academies  ;  accompanied  by  an  Atlas  of  the  Heavens, 

showing  the  places  of  the  principal  Stars,  Clusters,  and  Nebulae. 

By  E.  Otis  Kexdall,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  in 

the   Central   High   School  of  Philadelphia,   and   Member  of  the 

American  Philosophical  Society.     The  Uranography  contains  365 

pages  and  9  fine  engravings ;  the  Atlas  is  in  quarto,  and  contains  18 

large  maps.     Price  of  the  Uranography  and  Atlas  $1.25. 

Uranography,  as  the  word  imports,  is  simply  a  description  of  the  Heavens.  It 
is  Descriptive,  as  distinguished  from  Practical  Astronomy.    Astronomy,  as  a 

Practical  science,  require€  the  use  of  costly  instruments  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
igher  mathematics.  But  Uranography  requires  for  its  study  no  more  expensive 
apparatus  or  higher  attainments  than  Geography.  The  same  boy  or  girl  who  is 
competent  to  study  the  description  of  the  earth,  may  with  equal  ease,  and  from 
Ihe  same  teacher,  learn  a  description  of  the  heavens.  The  "  Uranography  and 
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who  has  examined  it. 

HART'S  CLASS  BOOK  OF  POETRY. 
HART'S  CLASS  BOOK  OF  PROSE. 

Being  Selections  from  distinguished  English  and  American  Authors, 
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gold  separately. 

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intended  as  reading-books  for  schools,  that  sufficient  care  has  not  been  used  in 
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contain  pleasing  descriptions,  and  interesting  stories,  written  in  an  agreeable 
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!.  H.  BITLER  AND  CO'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


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laste  for  reading  of  the  most  unprofitable  description. 

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HART'S      CONSTITUTION      OF     THE     UNITED 
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DONNEGAN'S  GREEK  AND  ENGLISH  LEXICON: 

Revised  and  Enlarged.    By  Robert  B.  Patton,  Professor  of  Ancient 
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FLEMING    AND    TIBBIN'S     FRENCH    AND    EN- 
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8  E.  H.  BUTLER  AND  CO*S  PUBLICATIONS. 

criminating  definitions,  and,  when  necessary,  with  appropriate  examples  and 
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